Olympic champion Ariarne 'Arnie' Titmus terminates swimming career, shocks fans

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Olympic champion Ariarne 'Arnie' Titmus terminates swimming career, shocks fans

2025-10-16 15:25 Last Updated At：15:30

BRISBANE, Australia (AP) — The Olympic champion known affectionately as “Arnie” chose to terminate her elite swimming career immediately, an ending that caught her audience completely by surprise.

Ariarne Titmus, a four-time Olympic gold medalist, had been widely expected to return to competitive swimming following a break in the wake of the Paris Games and train for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.

Instead, she posted a video on Instagram on Thursday announcing her retirement at the age of 25.

“I’ve always loved swimming, it’s been my passion since I was a little girl, but I guess I’ve taken this time away from the sport and realized some things in my life that have always been important to me are just a little bit more important to me now than swimming,” Titmus said. “And that’s OK.”

At the Paris Olympics last year, Titmus successfully defended her 400-meter freestyle title in a much-hyped race against U.S. great Katie Ledecky and Canada's Summer McIntosh.

All three have held the world record in the event at some stage.

“Knowing now what I know, I wish maybe I enjoyed that last race a little bit more,” she said. “But I guess having this 12 months away I’ve had the chance to explore what life is like without swimming — and that was always my intention — but I think a turning point for me was in the lead-up to the Paris Games I went through some health challenges which, quite frankly, really rocked me.”

In 2023, Titmus had surgery to remove two benign ovarian tumors but returned to the highest level quickly to prepare for the next competition.

On Thursday, she initially posted the news of her retirement in the form of a letter to her seven-year-old self.

“Today you retire from competitive swimming. 18 years you spent in the pool competing. 10 of those representing your country. You went to two Olympic Games and, even better, you won!!!” she wrote. “The dreams you had, they all came true. You achieved more than you ever thought you were capable of and you should be so proud.”

Titmus retires as the world-record holder in the 200 freestyle and with 33 international medals, including four gold, three silver and one bronze Olympic gold medals and four world titles.

Kaylee McKeown, who has won five Olympic gold medals including relay wins with Titmus, described her friend and teammate as “incredible.”

"Privileged to have witnessed a living legend in the sport.”

Swimming delivers most of Australia’s gold medals at the Olympics, and it’s a big part of life Down Under where most kids have to swim at least once a year in a school competition, or carnival, during their childhood.

So the sudden retirement made national, headline news.

In a “Thankyou Arnie!” farewell note, Swimming Australia said there'd be “a seismic void for the Dolphins’ to fill as it was customary at major meets for Titmus to swim the 400 freestyle event on the opening night.”

The swimming federation noted that Titmus had dominated the race for seven years and took her responsibility as a competition agenda setter very seriously.

“Before her successful Paris campaign, Titmus vowed to win Australia’s first gold medal of the 2024 Paris Olympics not just for the Dolphins,” Swimming Australia said, "but for the entire Australian Olympic team and for the Australian public.”

Titmus, who was raised in the southern island of Tasmania, made reference to her relatively isolated home state on Thursday.

“I probably shouldn’t have become Olympic champion,” she said. “I come from the (southernmost) place in this country — freezing, the pools aren’t open outdoors for seven months of the year. I was able to take it to the world, and I probably shouldn’t have.

“I think I’m a testament to setting big goals and chasing them and not being afraid of them. Swimming’s helped me realize that anything is possible if you work for it.”

AP swimming: https://apnews.com/hub/swimming

After missing more than 2 months with right knee injury, Stephen Curry returns for Warriors

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Stephen Curry swished a 3-pointer on his second shot from deep and raised his arms in delight when the ball went through.

He was looking to do the same on the last possession with Golden State down a point, but missed a long, straightaway 3-pointer.

No matter the result, Curry is back and healthy at long last for the Warriors after a right knee injury, and everyone at Chase Center celebrated right along with him in Golden State’s 117-116 loss to the Houston Rockets on Sunday night.

Coming off the bench in the regular season for the first time in 14 years, Curry was greeted by a warm standing ovation and greetings on the big screen — he also expressed his gratitude on video — when he entered with 4:54 left in the opening quarter.

He immediately passed off for an assist on a dunk by Charles Bassey, who just signed with Golden State earlier in the day. Curry made a 3-pointer with 34 seconds remaining in the period.

Curry finished with 29 points on 11-for-21 shooting and became the 26th player in NBA history with 9,000 field goals. He was 5 of 10 on 3s, playing 26 minutes.

Fans chanted “We want Steph! We want Steph!” during the fourth quarter, seemingly unaware of his minutes restriction.

This marked the first time he has come off the bench in a regular-season game since March 7, 2012, against Memphis. He last was a reserve in Game 4 of the first round of the 2022 playoffs during the Warriors’ last championship run.

Curry's pregame warmup is always a must-see show long before the main event, and the cheers were extra loud for his latest session now that he's finally back on the floor.

He was cheered pregame, too, and set to play about 25 minutes following a two-plus-month absence and 27 straight games sidelined because of a right knee injury.

He signed a few autographs after his shooting routine then missed his full-court heave before disappearing into the tunnel.

“He's one of the most beloved players in league history, Bay Area history in any sport and I think a long absence like this reminds everybody how lucky we are to see him, to watch him, to coach him, to play with him,” coach Steve Kerr said. “So tonight's a special night because we're reminded of how lucky we've been and how lucky we still are.”

Kerr said before the game that it's still unclear how many of the remaining games Curry will play given Golden State has five contests in eight days with a back-to-back the rest of the way — and the expectation is he wouldn't play on consecutive nights.

“We're going to manage it accordingly. The plan for tonight would be shorter bursts and we'll see on the minutes,” Kerr said. “But first game back he's not playing 48 minutes.”

The schedule will be determined by how Curry feels and input from Vice President of Player Health and Performance Rick Celebrini.

Rockets coach Ime Udoka knew Houston would have its hands full with No. 30 back.

“One of the best movers in the game. Four other guys at a time are concentrated on getting shots for him, so that’s not just one guy, and then does a good job in general with all the screens, off-ball actions, and pick-and-rolls,” Udoka said. "It’s a team effort. We need to be locked in on that, and obviously we’ve seen him enough and know some things that have hurt us in the past, and we need to prepare for that with him coming back.”

Curry scrimmaged several times this past week to test his injured right knee, and he said Saturday it was never a consideration to shut it down for the rest of the season. Kerr hoped to have Curry and younger brother Seth finally play together.

When Stephen Curry re-entered the game at the 6:19 mark of the second quarter, they did — the first time brothers played together in Warriors franchise history, according to Elias. Seth Curry also has been injured much of the season.

Seth Curry did appear in six preseason games for Golden State in 2013 then played for the team’s G League Santa Cruz Warriors that year — with the brothers playing all of 100 seconds together during the fourth quarter of two games during that ’13 preseason.

Kerr had said Saturday that Stephen Curry was expected to play for the first time since Jan. 30 against Detroit, though the Warriors listed him as questionable.

Curry warmed up in Kevin Durant's “Scoring Title” Nike KD 4s with former teammate Durant playing for the Rockets.

After Saturday's practice, Curry said dealing with the pain is part of his “new normal” and the offseason will require a significant reset.

The 38-year-old Curry initially expected to be playing right after the All-Star break, but the recovery was prolonged by some difficult moments when he would feel good, push hard then pay for it the following day.

The Warriors (36-42) lost their fourth straight game. They were 13-25 this season without Curry — including 9-18 during the recent stretch with him sidelined by patellofemoral pain syndrome.

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA