Aussie Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus has revealed she was born fighting for every breath when she entered the world with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck.
Growing up, Ariarne lived in a beautiful four-bedroom, two-bathroom house in Chelmer, a suburb of Brisbane after the family made the move from Launceston, Tasmania where she was born.
Her father, Steve, is well-known in Queensland as a presenter on Channel Seven Gold Coast News, while her mother, Robyn, works as a recruitment consultant.
However, their idyllic lifestyle nearly turned tragic at the moment Ariarne was born.
Her family has revealed that their joy quickly turned to terror when she was delivered blue and motionless due to the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck.
Ariarne needed an oxygen mask immediately as she fought for breath and a doctor is seen administering medicine to her in a video recorded by her father.
Steve believes surviving the life-threatening experience put an invisible coat of armour on the Olympic gold medallist.
‘We really believe that first hour set up her mindset for life,’ he told News Corp.
‘That was the start of her character as a fighter for life. It’s almost as if from that point she was never going to give up.’
Ariarne Titmus is pictured with her father Steve, who captured the near tragedy on video when the Olympic gold medallist was born
Ariarne Titmus (pictured with her parents and sister Mia) is renowned for her fighting spirit in and out of the pool
Ariarne )pictured with her mother Robyn) has always been a water baby since her troubled arrival to the world
Ariarne agrees.
‘I truly believe in those things,’ she said.
‘I believe there is something inside me that got me going that day. I could have not made it, but I believe I have carried that through my life. I feel I have that fight when I race and in life. I feel really grateful to be here.’
As the great Tasmanian-born swimmer prepares for her Paris Olympics campaign, Steve often reflects on those first fateful minutes.
Ariarne’s fight for survival is a testament to the grittiness and determination that has carried her through many challenges, including recent health scares.
After winning two gold medals at the World Swimming Championships, Ariarne discovered she had benign tumors on her ovary during an MRI scan on a sore hip last year.
She underwent surgery to remove the tumors in August and says it has changed her mindset.
‘That was probably the best thing that could have happened to me, to be honest,’ she said.
‘I’m only young once, and I want to really make the most of this moment in my life.’
Titmus will have the hopes of a nation on her shoulders as she prepares to defend her titles at the Paris Olympics
The Aussie swimming great gave everything, mentally and physically, at the Tokyo Olympics
The 23-year-old Olympic hopeful is determined to seize every opportunity and enjoy each moment.
‘The chance that I have to race at the Olympic Games, not just being an Olympian but fighting for medals and gold medals, is very rare,’ she said.
‘I just want to take every opportunity I can and enjoy the moment. When I was younger, I was always looking to the next thing, but as I’m getting older, I’m trying to sink into the moment and enjoy them more.’
In Paris, Titmus will attempt to become the first Australian woman to defend her Olympic title since the great Dawn Fraser did it more than half a century ago.
Her journey to the Tokyo Olympics was fraught with pressure, leaving her at breaking point both physically and mentally.
She won gold in the 200m and 400m freestyle, silver in the 800m, and a bronze medal in the 4x200m relay in 2021.
Once her busy race schedule was completed, she was too spent to feel elated.
‘My Olympics last time was such a blur to me,’ Titmus told the En Route to Paris podcast.
‘It was probably the most grueling and exhausting week of my life. I was probably most proud of my performance in the 800m [where she finished second to fierce rival Katie Ledecky], to be honest.
When that race was over, it was like I was in a pressure cooker, then it was time to release the valve.’
Reflecting on the end of her Olympic journey, she said, ‘I collapsed, my mind and body were completely relaxed for the first time in nine days. I just collapsed. It was the most unreal feeling; it was over and done.’
