Ariarne Titmus will 'dominate' Katie Ledecky in women's 400m freestyle, Grant Hackett says
When Ariarne Titmus beat Katie Ledecky to gold in the 200m and 400m freestyle in Tokyo, it ended a stranglehold the American had on women's swimming.
Ledecky had owned women's freestyle competition for the better part of a decade, and won gold in the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle in Rio 2016.
But in Tokyo, Titmus stole the show by winning 200 and 400m, and was barely a second away from claiming the trifecta in the 800m.
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Days out from competition in Paris, Aussie swimming legend Grant Hackett believes Titmus will again "dominate" the American.
But a new face could still threaten the party.
Katie Ledecky and Ariarne Titmus after the medel ceremony for the women's 800m freestyle final at the Fukuoka World Championships last year. Getty
The women's 400m freestyle headlines the opening night of competition in the pool on Sunday morning (AEST). Titmus is favourite with the bookmakers to go back-to-back, with Ledecky and Canadian teen phenom Summer McIntosh equal second.
Speaking on Stan Sport's Paris Preview, Hackett said the emergence of 17-year-old McIntosh has set the scene for an "unbelievable" race.
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Between Ledecky (three times), Titmus (twice) and McIntosh (once), the world record has been lowered six times in the past decade. Titmus is the current holder, setting a time of 3:55.38 at the World Championships in Fukuoka last year.
It slashed a whopping six tenths off the time McIntosh set at the Canadian World Championship trials four months earlier.
Titmus celebrating after beating Ledecky to 400m gold in Tokyo. VCG via Getty Images
But Hackett said Titmus' form at the Australian trials was too good to ignore.
"Seeing her swim at the Olympic trials, the time she posted there, not only do I think she'll will, I think she'll win in world record time," Hackett said.
"I think she'll dominate over Katie Ledecky, who's arguably one of the greatest if not the greatest female swimmer of all time."
Hackett said Ledecky's dominance of women's swimming had led to others raising the bar even further.
"I think over the last few years on the women's side, we've seen the standard climb and climb and climb, and that's really been led by Katie Ledecky," he explained.
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Summer Mcintosh could throw a spanner in the works. Getty
"But so many other athletes have come up around that. We've seen obviously Ariarne (Titmus), Kaylee (McKeown) ...
"What I'm super impressed with is the consistency of their performances – they own the big stage.
"You can see in all their interviews ... they're all ready to compete. They all feel mentally ready, physically ready.
"They're putting the expectation on themselves, but you can see they're also very humble in their approach as well."
Ledecky is favourite to win gold in the 800m freestyle from Titmus. Ledecky is not racing in the 200m in Paris, but will be attempting to defend her 1500m freestyle gold from Tokyo.
The 400m freestyle final is scheduled for 4.55am AEST Sunday.
Grant Hackett will appear as a swimming expert on Stan Sport's Olympics Daily and Paris Preview shows throughout the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
