Titmus clinches freestyle treble at Commonwealths

Australian swim star Ariarne Titmus completed a stunning individual freestyle treble at the Commonwealth Games on Wednesday as England’s Ben Proud won his third straight 50m freestyle crown.
Titmus, the world record holder in the 400m, beat a high-class field in the event to add to her earlier triumphs in the 200m and 800m freestyle in Birmingham.
The 21-year-old dominated the race, touching in 3min 58.06sec to see off the challenge of Canada’s 15-year-old Summer McIntosh.
The Olympic 200m and 400m champion skipped the world championships in Budapest in June, where she would have faced US star Katie Ledecky, to focus on the Commonwealths.
She leaves Birmingham with four golds in total after also being part of Australia’s winning team in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay. “I came here with the goal to win all four. I believed I had the capacity to do that and I’m happy I did,” she said.
Titmus said it was crucial to have race practice in a high-pressure situation. “I think that, back home, Australia really prides itself on success in the pool at the Comm Games,” she said.
“Potentially there’s more pressure here to win than at the Olympics sometimes because we are so dominant. Performing under that pressure is tough.”
Proud, 27, won his third straight Commonwealth men’s 50m freestyle title, dominating the field to win in 21.36sec. “It’s a year ago since I was giving my interviews and burst into tears because of a bad swim at the Olympics,” said the world champion, who also won the 50m butterfly in Birmingham. AFP