Another talented Australian prodigy came of age in the pool in Tokyo, making her Olympic debut at the age of 20. Ariarne Titmus surprised the swimming world by beating defending champion Katie Ledecky twice, at both 200 and 400 metres, posting a new Olympic record of 1 min 53.50 secs in the 200m. The two defeats in 48 hours were only the first and second time Ledecky had lost individual finals in her three Olympic Games. Titmus also earned a silver medal in the 800m freestyle final, this time finishing 1.26 seconds behind Ledecky, and bronze in the 4x200m freestyle relay. Titmus said of Ledecky: “I just thanked her. I wouldn’t be here without her. She’s set this standard.”