July 17, 2024 • 27 mins
LISTEN TO PART ONE OF THIS CONVERSATION HERE.
This is part two of our conversation with Olympic swimmer Ariarne Titmus. If you haven't listened to part one yet - click here.
In part two, Ariarne talks about the reality of preparing for the Olympic Games and how she would feel if she didn’t win gold in Paris.
Plus, she discusses her biggest personal insecurities outside of swimming and what she wants to do when she retires from the sport.
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Want more Olympics conversations? Check out this episode of The Quicky
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CREDITS:
Host: Clare Stephens
Guest: Ariarne Titmus
Audio Producer: Scott Stronach
Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
You're listening to a Muma Mia podcast. Mamma Mia acknowledges
the traditional owners of the land and waters that this
podcast is recorded on. I'm Clere Stevens and welcome to
part two of my conversation with Olympic gold medalist Arianne Tipmus.
In part one, Arianne talked about how people suddenly wanted
(00:34):
to be friends with her after her first Olympic Games,
her upbringing in Tasmania, the sacrifices her family made to
move to Brisbane for better swimming opportunities, and the pressure
that placed on her, and the health issue that really
clarified what it is that she wants out of life.
If you haven't heard part one yet, it's best to
(00:55):
start there. There's a link in the show notes. Here's
part two. You're in such an interesting position in terms
of your sport, in that you train for years, years
and years and years for a moment that is a
few minutes when you are on that starting block and
(01:20):
you're about to jump in the pool. Even when you
think about it for the Paris Olympics and you think, okay,
I've worked for four years for this moment, how on
earth do you keep yourself together and focus just on
that and not completely mess with your mind in terms
of pressure.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Well, if you think about all of that, it can
become all consuming. And I think that's what makes people
come undone, because they truly think about where they are
and what they're doing. But for me, whenever I stand
behind the blocks at a major meet or at the
last Olympics, I remember I woke up the day of
the four hundred, it was the first ay of the Olympics,
(02:03):
and I had a text on my phone from my
coach Dean, and all it said was just be that
little girl. You have eight las, you know how to
do it. This should be easy for you compared to
anyone else. And all you have to do is swim,
and you've been doing it your whole life. And when
you really think about what you're doing, it's the same
(02:24):
whether I'd be racing at a local meet here in
Brisbane or whether I'm racing at the Olympic Games. I'm
going to give it my best shot either way. And
I think you really have to put it into perspective
that swimming is not the be all in the end,
or there's more to life before four hundred. At the
last Olympic Steen, and I said, we wanted to for
the race, not even talk about the race, to take
(02:45):
the pressure off. And he just said to me, go
out there, have fun, Go get them, Tiger, and that
was it. And I think that's the best way to
look at it. Just know that I'm the most prepared
person in.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
The world to do this.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Imagine if you were behind the block of the Olympic Games,
you should be way more nervous.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
Than I would be.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
So I think you just have to really forget about
the circumstances of where you are. And just.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Something I find fascinating about you is that you seem
to have this incredibly healthy concept of competition and you
haven't seen a mindset coach. That seems to be something
that's just innate to you. And I've been reading a
bit of stuff recently about how sometimes when we turn
(03:36):
to professional help, we interrupt our own natural instincts. Yeah,
and so it seems like you, just from the get
go have had this idea about competitiveness and joy and
getting in the pool and treating it as a swim.
Do you feel like you need somebody to talk you
(04:00):
through dealing with pressure or do you feel like there
is just something about you that knows how to cope
with it.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
We had discussions about whether I would see a sports
psych but for me, I have had all this.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
Success without it, and I know that it works.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
And I sometimes get, like you said, maybe you want
to try something new, but why I interrupt something that
you know works?
Speaker 3 (04:25):
And if anything, I think Dean.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Is probably I wouldn't say mindset coach, but I definitely
bounce a lot of ideas off him and talk to
him about preparing for races and nerves and expectation and
things like that, and I think he probably plays that
role more than anyone for me. But I've always kind
of had this ability to eat pressure up and use
(04:47):
it in the right way and turn it into an advantage.
I guess my mind has always been something that I
think has helped me be so successful.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
At the moment, you are in an insane training schedule.
Can you give me an idea of what your day
looks like?
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Yeah, so I have a training week.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
I guess Sundays is off and on a Monday, for example,
I'll wake up at five twenty and I'm a bit
of a coffee fanatic, so I always have to start
my day with a coffee and a piece of toast,
and then I'm at the pool by about quarter past six,
and we start with like stretching, that type of thing,
(05:34):
and I'll be in the water for about two two
and a half hours, clock up seven k and then
go up to the gym, spend an hour lifting in
the gym, and then by the time I get home
it will be around like eleven o'clock. I'll eat breakfast,
then I'll go to sleep, have it sleep in the day,
wake up at about ten past one, eat lunch, have
(05:56):
a coffee, do a few emails, chill for a bit,
eat a small snack again, and I'm out the door
at two point fifteen, and then I'm back at the
pool by about two forty five, and we do about
forty five five minutes of stretching and into like prepool
like core, mobility, body weight stuff. And then the evening
(06:17):
sessions are tough main sets, and that can go from
anywhere between two and three hours. It's another seven kilometers,
and then after that we'll do half an hour on
the bike, and then after that some of us will
do extra like core or medicine, ball throws or skipping anything.
And then I'll be out of training by about anywhere
(06:40):
between seven and sometimes eight o'clock at night, be home
after that, and then do it all again on Tuesday. Wednesday,
I get the afternoon off, do it all again the
same on Thursday. Then Friday get the afternoon off, and
then Saturday morning is wouldn't called a morning session.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
It goes to about lunchtime. So that's my week.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
I think, all consuming with physio, massage, recovery, you know,
I spark and our type of thing. My week's probably
about between thirty five and forty hours dedicated to my swimming.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
So it does a full time job. But I guess
it's what you have to do to be the best.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
When you're doing those really big swims and when you're
not necessarily I can imagine when you're doing more of
a I mean, I know nothing about competitive swimming, but
when you're doing more of a competitive swim or trying
to get a time, I can imagine your mind is
more like counting strokes, thinking about technique and that kind
of thing. When you're doing the longer swims, what do
(07:39):
you think about.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Hmmm, Well, actually there's these new things that have come
in and the headphones you can swim with, and a
lot of us in the squad have got those to
kind of make it a little bit easier to get through.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
But I actually don't get too bored.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Sometimes if we've got a recovery, like this morning, I
basically went six k straight, which is so mine nomine,
it's just horrendous. But I'll break it up and try
and count in different ways, so count by hundreds or
count by laps, and then I'll think about what I'm
cooking for dinner, or there might be like a song
that's like replaying in my head, or I might stop
(08:15):
on the wall for a couple of minutes and have
a bit of a chat.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
So like, you get through it easy, but like.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
You said, when you're in a really important session, your
mind is so on edge to try and hit every
single time in training, you really have to be beyond.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
After the break, Arianne shares exactly what it looks like
to prepare for the Olympic Games. She talks about her regrets,
and she opens up about the biggest insecurities she has
outside of swimming. You're obviously in such a routine when
(08:56):
you're in Australia and you know exactly what you're doing,
and you've got everything that you need at your disposal,
and then you go to the Olympics overseas. What do
you do to make sure you have have everything you
need at your disposal when you're in another country and
about to have one of the most significant moments of
(09:21):
your life.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
I feel like we're really lucky as a team. We've
got great support staff around us, and I feel like
I've kind of grown up on the team and you've
become more confident with those people and they become like
family to you and you can really draw on them
for the things you need. And as an athlete, I mean,
god ever sees to foreign countries and stay in a
team hotel or Olympic village, you are thrown into some
(09:47):
crazy environments and you've got to navigate them the best
you can. And like dining hordle and fix is unbelievable,
Like it's just the most chaotic thing you'll ever see
in your life.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
There's people everywhere, and just think of like a football
field full of food.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
And one thing for me is like your food is
your fuel as an athlete. And one thing I've definitely
struggled with is eating overseas to race. I'm gluten free,
and I used to be so worried to be inconvenience
and speak up and say something when there'd be no
food that I could actually eat, so I just kind
(10:22):
of go without. But I've definitely learned three years that
that's just stupid and people are there to help you
and are willing to help you, and if you communicate
about your needs as an athlete, people are always going
to make things happen. So I've definitely got better at that,
and there's always options.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
For me now.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
But I mean, glute Guard's one of my sponsors, and
I always have that with me, which helps. But I
think that that's probably one of the tougher things to navigate,
especially if symptoms flare up. There's been times I've been
away racing and I've had my symptoms flare up, which
is challenging. I remember the first year I became world
champion in twenty nineteen. We were in Korea and there
(10:59):
was so many sources on everything, and everything was deep fried,
and so I couldn't eat anything.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
So I literally lived off boiled eggs.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
And playing rice for twelve days straight and I won,
so it worked.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
But that's definitely a big challenge of mine when I
go away.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
When you think about your life so far, and I
know you're still so young and there's so much ahead
of you, is there anything that you really regret or
you wish you'd done differently?
Speaker 2 (11:35):
I think the one thing when I was younger, I
wanted to make it so bad, like I just wanted
to make it on the big stage so bad. I
think from the age of seven, when I started swimming
in a squad and racing eight numbers all the way through.
I mean when COVID happened, we were kind of forced
out of training, but within a week I'd found a
(11:57):
backyard pool to.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Train in so I didn't miss training, And then.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
All the way through to after Tokyo, I had never
had a break away from the pool longer than two
weeks at a time in my entire life because I
was all looking to the next thing. And when I
made my first Australian team as a junior, I was fourteen.
I was extremely young to travel overseas, and then I
made the senior team when I was sixteen, which is
(12:21):
still very young, and I always was thinking what's next,
and whenever I achieved something, whether it was my first
medal on the international stage or first world championship. I
don't think I enjoyed the moment as I should. And
I truly think that if you are present in the
moment and just let things sink and settle in, it
(12:42):
kind of helps you. And I don't think I was
when I was younger. I just always continually wanted more,
and I think that's why I have been so successful now.
But I think as I've gotten older, you know, I'm
coming up to eight years on the national team now,
you have a lot more perspective and experience, and I
think going into these games knowing how it does feel
(13:06):
to win an Olympic gold medal and not knowing whether
I'll have that opportunity again, I'm going to if it
does happen for me. I've promised myself that I will
really revel in that experience and let it truly sink in.
Because I remember last Olympics. I literally, just the day
(13:26):
I want my four hundred, just forgot about it. I
gave a medal with a team manager, I said, you
look after it.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
I don't want to look at it. I didn't even
look at my medal and I.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Just moved on to the next because I had a
job at hand and that got me through the week.
But I truly think I probably never really enjoyed big
moments in my career like I should.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Have, because you think, well, what's the point if you
don't let it wash over you? And I can imagine
that having been a swimmer for so long and competing
at such a high level for so long, you probably
start to imagine or tell yourself what it should feel
like when you win. That you know, when I win,
(14:06):
it should feel like X, Y, and Z, and when
it doesn't that must be a bit of a discombobulating experience,
like after Tokyo. If it didn't feel how it was
meant to feel, you might be beating yourself up a bit, thinking, no,
I meant to be enjoying this. I meant to be
enjoying this. Do you feel like with the level of
(14:27):
success you've got, it's a bit of a treadmill in
that you achieve something and then you're just straight onto
the next and straight onto the next, and therefore you
don't really get to be present and enjoy the win.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
I think so, and a lot of people determine greatness
on longevity as well and being able to replicate what
you've done again, and for sure that is a real thing.
I mean, no Australian woman has gone back to back
in the same Olympic event other than Dawn Fraser, and
(15:05):
I think it is because of the pedestal you get
put on in this country and you get brought up
in so many external things. Opportunities come from everywhere, and
so I understand that as well as you can, like
off the back of an Olympics, you're pulled in every
single direction. Everyone wants a piece of you, and I
know that it's so much harder to do it the
(15:26):
second time, and I don't think that's why anyone's been
able to go back to back other than Dawn. But
at the end of the day, when you talk about treadmill,
no one can take away from you what you have achieved.
Even if you do it once and once only, You'll
always be an Olympian, You'll always be an Olympic gold medalist.
I will always be a world record holder on no
(15:48):
matter whether I never do it again, they will always
be mine and I've achieved that in my career and
I think whether you do it once or ten times
that both are equally successful. And I think that's something
that I've really thought about a lot lately.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
And that's I think a good perspective on happiness that
you don't necessarily have to feel all the emotions in
the moment, because you've got your life to celebrate that
and to feel happy about that. Like I can imagine
that sometimes it's just a random Tuesday and you're like, damn,
look at what I've done. You don't necessarily have to
(16:25):
feel it when you're on the podium with the gold
medal around your neck. In terms of outside of swimming,
when your whole life has been so consumed by being
so talented at this one thing, do you find that
you have insecurities or things you worry about in other
(16:50):
domains of your life, Like what would you say is
your biggest personal insecurity outside of swimming?
Speaker 2 (16:58):
For me, when I was younger, I defined myself a
distemer and I put so many things in my life
on the back burner for my swimming, and I was
very content with because I was so tunnel vision for
a goal. And as I've gotten older and realize there's
so many more things to your life, I am trying
(17:21):
to discover myself who I am outside of swimming, and
I think sometimes one of my insecurities would be that
maybe I don't have enough to my resume as a
person and people only look at me for my swimming.
With my friends and my family, we never discuss my swimming.
(17:43):
They look at me for who I am. I honestly
hardly talk about it.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
It's my job, you know.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
And so I've figured out that that's not true about
me not having a big enough resume, but I think
to the outside looking in, I think that's what people see.
So I'm looking forward to after these Olympics really exploring
finding pathways of where my career could potentially go beyond
swimming and explore in different parts of myself away from
(18:12):
the sport, Like I'm definitely going to have a break
and do a bit of self discovery and self reflection
and i just want to.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Be irrelevant for a little while.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
And I have passions outside of swimming as well, which
I really want to draw on. So I think that's
something that I think I've got to work on, really
exploring myself without my sport for a little while.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Who are you outside swimming? Like, what are some of
those passions.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
Well, who am I?
Speaker 2 (18:38):
I would say People that know me really would say
I'm the biggest goof and like such a weirdo. I
have absolutely zero filter. What you see is what you get,
and I'll never apologize for truly being myself. And in
terms of my passions outside of swimming, I think something
that's a bit of a de stress for me that
(18:59):
I try to do as much as I can is cooking.
I love cooking and I love experimenting and playing with that.
So I don't know whether I'm going to get a
little bit more into that when I'm on break, but
we'll see. I love fashion and I love expressing myself
in that way, and I don't get to dress up
too often now, But when the Olympics is over, I'm
looking forward to, you know, being able to get out
(19:21):
of it more and express myself in that way. And
then something in terms of like career wise, that I've
dabbled in a little bit that I'd love to explore
more is I've worked in broadcasting a little bit, so
I've done a bit of commentating and presenting and I
would love to get into that a little bit more.
And my dad's a journalist, so he likes to think
that like I'm following in his footsteps, which you know
(19:44):
I probably will end up doing. But I've really enjoyed
doing a little bit of that, so I'm excited to
hopefully get into that a little bit more and started
to kind of carve some some pathways for potentially after swimming.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Up. Next, we explore how Arianne thinks she'll feel if
she doesn't win gold at the Olympics, and on the
flip side, how she thinks she'll feel if she does.
Plus is she truly happy? Right now? Stay with us?
(20:22):
Have you thought a lot about and this episode will
be coming out a lot closer to Paris, But say
you get to Paris and say you lose everything when
your mind goes there, which I'm sure it does every
now and then, what do you tell.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Yourself, Well, if that did happen, which.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
It won't, But just as a thought experiment.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
I'm not gonna lie like I would be utterly disappointed,
like I would be upset. You work so hard, and
I truly believe I'm capable of achieving great things at
these games.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
I know I've.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Prepared well, but I think I'm content enough with myself
and secure enough in myself and secure in the relationships
around me that I know I would definitely be okay,
And I think it would the disappointment would pass because
I am at the crux of it, content already with
(21:26):
what I have achieved. If I go into these games
knowing I did everything I possibly could and I didn't
win anything, and the other girls were better than me
on the day, They were better than me on the day,
And you can't control what other people do, and you
can't wonder if only I'd done this, if only I'd
done that, or you really can't go in with any
regrets or after thoughts of maybe potentially doing something better.
(21:50):
So I think, if you prepare the best you can,
what happens on the day happens on the day. And yeah,
but I really try not to think about it if
that was to happen.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
How about the moments where you think about winning everything?
What if you go and you win every race, you
win all the golden and it is just as you've
made Australian history. How does that feel when you think
about it?
Speaker 2 (22:19):
I think the word that comes to mind is pride.
I think I'd feel such a sense of pride to
do that for not only myself, but a lot of
people in my life, my coach, my family, my friends,
the country. Of course, I think pride and that really
is what I feel, and I think just a sense
(22:40):
of gratification that I'd got the best out Truly, I
performed the best I possibly could and I got the
best out of myself, a sense that I really perform
the way I thought I was capable of. It's this
internal motivation I think that you kind of draw on
and at the end of the day, it's up to
(23:01):
me to do it. On the day, I can have
as many people around me hope to get me to
where I am, but I'm the one that has to
dive in there and do the race.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
So, Arianne Titmus, you are currently one of Australia's top athletes.
You are one of the best swimmers we've ever seen
in this country, and you're about to go into another
Olympics when you are only twenty three years old. But
(23:30):
are you happy.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
I'm very happy in my life and if swimming was
taken away from me right now, I know I would
still be happy. I have a lot going for me
in my life. Without swimming, I have the most wonderful family,
the most wonderful friends. I live in a great house,
which I'm proud of. I feel like I have a
(23:53):
sense of I don't know. I feel like I have
things I want to do after swimming. So I am
happy in my life and I'm content. And everything happens
this year like I want it to. I feel like
you'd almost have to look at it as a bonus.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Really, soon we are all going to be glued to
our screens watching Arione Tipmas in her goggles and her
cap and her Australian swimsuit, preparing to jump in the pool.
The pressure of that moment will be intense. She'll have
an entire country wanting her to succeed, and she'll have
the eyes of the world on the result. And I
(24:31):
think the only way to ensure that you jump in
the pool and perform your best is to know deep
down that it simply isn't the most important thing, That
who you are is not defined by how you perform
in one race on one day in one year at
one Olympics. Perhaps the reason for Arianne's performance is that
she knows that swimming is what she does, but it
(24:54):
isn't what she is, and she has an entire life
to live with dreams and aspirations outside of that. It's
a beautiful attitude to have, and a very healthy one,
because ultimately, it's not the medals or the awards that
bring us happiness. They make us proud, of course, and
it's part of establishing a sense of self to see
(25:15):
yourself as determined and a hard worker, for example, but
they don't bring true happiness. Arianne is far more than
a swimmer, and perhaps that's worth remembering when we anxiously
watch her on the Starting Blocks. That's our last episode
the season three. I hope you gained something from the
conversations this season, and I would love to hear from
(25:37):
you about what you took from it. You can get
in touch with me on Instagram to share your thoughts
at Claire dot Stevens. I love your dms about what
you thought, or to share guest suggestions for future episodes.
If you enjoyed this season, please leave us a review.
It helps people to find us and it helps us
continue making this a safe space to have vulnerable conversations
(26:01):
about happiness. On last week's episode, I had a conversation
with actor and musician Rob Mills about standing on stage
and feeling lowest, and the nuances of how men deal
with mental health.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
Let us have our bands out like we can't just
have real chatselor top. It's fucking exhausting. You get compassion
fatigue talking about feelings and yak. But you do need
to let off the valve at some stage. But yeah,
that's a good reminder for auokdas know that you might
not be the person to but find someone who is.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
There's a link in the show notes to listen to
that episode while we make our next season. The feed
is always here, so you can scroll back, listen to
any episode that you haven't listened to, re listened to
the ones that meant something to you. We're always here.
You can always find me on Canceled, a comedy podcast
I do with my sister Jesse, or The Baby Bubble,
(26:55):
which is definitely not a parenting advice podcast. This episode
was produced by Tarlie Blackman, with audio production by Scott Stronik.
You're listening to a Muma Mia podcast. Mamma Mia acknowledges
the traditional owners of the land and waters that this
podcast is recorded on. I'm Clere Stevens and welcome to
part two of my conversation with Olympic gold medalist Arianne Tipmus.
In part one, Arianne talked about how people suddenly wanted
(00:34):
to be friends with her after her first Olympic Games,
her upbringing in Tasmania, the sacrifices her family made to
move to Brisbane for better swimming opportunities, and the pressure
that placed on her, and the health issue that really
clarified what it is that she wants out of life.
If you haven't heard part one yet, it's best to
(00:55):
start there. There's a link in the show notes. Here's
part two. You're in such an interesting position in terms
of your sport, in that you train for years, years
and years and years for a moment that is a
few minutes when you are on that starting block and
(01:20):
you're about to jump in the pool. Even when you
think about it for the Paris Olympics and you think, okay,
I've worked for four years for this moment, how on
earth do you keep yourself together and focus just on
that and not completely mess with your mind in terms
of pressure.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Well, if you think about all of that, it can
become all consuming. And I think that's what makes people
come undone, because they truly think about where they are
and what they're doing. But for me, whenever I stand
behind the blocks at a major meet or at the
last Olympics, I remember I woke up the day of
the four hundred, it was the first ay of the Olympics,
(02:03):
and I had a text on my phone from my
coach Dean, and all it said was just be that
little girl. You have eight las, you know how to
do it. This should be easy for you compared to
anyone else. And all you have to do is swim,
and you've been doing it your whole life. And when
you really think about what you're doing, it's the same
(02:24):
whether I'd be racing at a local meet here in
Brisbane or whether I'm racing at the Olympic Games. I'm
going to give it my best shot either way. And
I think you really have to put it into perspective
that swimming is not the be all in the end,
or there's more to life before four hundred. At the
last Olympic Steen, and I said, we wanted to for
the race, not even talk about the race, to take
(02:45):
the pressure off. And he just said to me, go
out there, have fun, Go get them, Tiger, and that
was it. And I think that's the best way to
look at it. Just know that I'm the most prepared
person in.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
The world to do this.
Speaker 2 (03:00):
Imagine if you were behind the block of the Olympic Games,
you should be way more nervous.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
Than I would be.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
So I think you just have to really forget about
the circumstances of where you are. And just.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Something I find fascinating about you is that you seem
to have this incredibly healthy concept of competition and you
haven't seen a mindset coach. That seems to be something
that's just innate to you. And I've been reading a
bit of stuff recently about how sometimes when we turn
(03:36):
to professional help, we interrupt our own natural instincts. Yeah,
and so it seems like you, just from the get
go have had this idea about competitiveness and joy and
getting in the pool and treating it as a swim.
Do you feel like you need somebody to talk you
(04:00):
through dealing with pressure or do you feel like there
is just something about you that knows how to cope
with it.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
We had discussions about whether I would see a sports
psych but for me, I have had all this.
Speaker 3 (04:13):
Success without it, and I know that it works.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
And I sometimes get, like you said, maybe you want
to try something new, but why I interrupt something that
you know works?
Speaker 3 (04:25):
And if anything, I think Dean.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Is probably I wouldn't say mindset coach, but I definitely
bounce a lot of ideas off him and talk to
him about preparing for races and nerves and expectation and
things like that, and I think he probably plays that
role more than anyone for me. But I've always kind
of had this ability to eat pressure up and use
(04:47):
it in the right way and turn it into an advantage.
I guess my mind has always been something that I
think has helped me be so successful.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
At the moment, you are in an insane training schedule.
Can you give me an idea of what your day
looks like?
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Yeah, so I have a training week.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
I guess Sundays is off and on a Monday, for example,
I'll wake up at five twenty and I'm a bit
of a coffee fanatic, so I always have to start
my day with a coffee and a piece of toast,
and then I'm at the pool by about quarter past six,
and we start with like stretching, that type of thing,
(05:34):
and I'll be in the water for about two two
and a half hours, clock up seven k and then
go up to the gym, spend an hour lifting in
the gym, and then by the time I get home
it will be around like eleven o'clock. I'll eat breakfast,
then I'll go to sleep, have it sleep in the day,
wake up at about ten past one, eat lunch, have
(05:56):
a coffee, do a few emails, chill for a bit,
eat a small snack again, and I'm out the door
at two point fifteen, and then I'm back at the
pool by about two forty five, and we do about
forty five five minutes of stretching and into like prepool
like core, mobility, body weight stuff. And then the evening
(06:17):
sessions are tough main sets, and that can go from
anywhere between two and three hours. It's another seven kilometers,
and then after that we'll do half an hour on
the bike, and then after that some of us will
do extra like core or medicine, ball throws or skipping anything.
And then I'll be out of training by about anywhere
(06:40):
between seven and sometimes eight o'clock at night, be home
after that, and then do it all again on Tuesday. Wednesday,
I get the afternoon off, do it all again the
same on Thursday. Then Friday get the afternoon off, and
then Saturday morning is wouldn't called a morning session.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
It goes to about lunchtime. So that's my week.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
I think, all consuming with physio, massage, recovery, you know,
I spark and our type of thing. My week's probably
about between thirty five and forty hours dedicated to my swimming.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
So it does a full time job. But I guess
it's what you have to do to be the best.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
When you're doing those really big swims and when you're
not necessarily I can imagine when you're doing more of
a I mean, I know nothing about competitive swimming, but
when you're doing more of a competitive swim or trying
to get a time, I can imagine your mind is
more like counting strokes, thinking about technique and that kind
of thing. When you're doing the longer swims, what do
(07:39):
you think about.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Hmmm, Well, actually there's these new things that have come
in and the headphones you can swim with, and a
lot of us in the squad have got those to
kind of make it a little bit easier to get through.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
But I actually don't get too bored.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Sometimes if we've got a recovery, like this morning, I
basically went six k straight, which is so mine nomine,
it's just horrendous. But I'll break it up and try
and count in different ways, so count by hundreds or
count by laps, and then I'll think about what I'm
cooking for dinner, or there might be like a song
that's like replaying in my head, or I might stop
(08:15):
on the wall for a couple of minutes and have
a bit of a chat.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
So like, you get through it easy, but like.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
You said, when you're in a really important session, your
mind is so on edge to try and hit every
single time in training, you really have to be beyond.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
After the break, Arianne shares exactly what it looks like
to prepare for the Olympic Games. She talks about her regrets,
and she opens up about the biggest insecurities she has
outside of swimming. You're obviously in such a routine when
(08:56):
you're in Australia and you know exactly what you're doing,
and you've got everything that you need at your disposal,
and then you go to the Olympics overseas. What do
you do to make sure you have have everything you
need at your disposal when you're in another country and
about to have one of the most significant moments of
(09:21):
your life.
Speaker 2 (09:22):
I feel like we're really lucky as a team. We've
got great support staff around us, and I feel like
I've kind of grown up on the team and you've
become more confident with those people and they become like
family to you and you can really draw on them
for the things you need. And as an athlete, I mean,
god ever sees to foreign countries and stay in a
team hotel or Olympic village, you are thrown into some
(09:47):
crazy environments and you've got to navigate them the best
you can. And like dining hordle and fix is unbelievable,
Like it's just the most chaotic thing you'll ever see
in your life.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
There's people everywhere, and just think of like a football
field full of food.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
And one thing for me is like your food is
your fuel as an athlete. And one thing I've definitely
struggled with is eating overseas to race. I'm gluten free,
and I used to be so worried to be inconvenience
and speak up and say something when there'd be no
food that I could actually eat, so I just kind
(10:22):
of go without. But I've definitely learned three years that
that's just stupid and people are there to help you
and are willing to help you, and if you communicate
about your needs as an athlete, people are always going
to make things happen. So I've definitely got better at that,
and there's always options.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
For me now.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
But I mean, glute Guard's one of my sponsors, and
I always have that with me, which helps. But I
think that that's probably one of the tougher things to navigate,
especially if symptoms flare up. There's been times I've been
away racing and I've had my symptoms flare up, which
is challenging. I remember the first year I became world
champion in twenty nineteen. We were in Korea and there
(10:59):
was so many sources on everything, and everything was deep fried,
and so I couldn't eat anything.
Speaker 3 (11:04):
So I literally lived off boiled eggs.
Speaker 2 (11:06):
And playing rice for twelve days straight and I won,
so it worked.
Speaker 3 (11:12):
But that's definitely a big challenge of mine when I
go away.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
When you think about your life so far, and I
know you're still so young and there's so much ahead
of you, is there anything that you really regret or
you wish you'd done differently?
Speaker 2 (11:35):
I think the one thing when I was younger, I
wanted to make it so bad, like I just wanted
to make it on the big stage so bad. I
think from the age of seven, when I started swimming
in a squad and racing eight numbers all the way through.
I mean when COVID happened, we were kind of forced
out of training, but within a week I'd found a
(11:57):
backyard pool to.
Speaker 3 (11:57):
Train in so I didn't miss training, And then.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
All the way through to after Tokyo, I had never
had a break away from the pool longer than two
weeks at a time in my entire life because I
was all looking to the next thing. And when I
made my first Australian team as a junior, I was fourteen.
I was extremely young to travel overseas, and then I
made the senior team when I was sixteen, which is
(12:21):
still very young, and I always was thinking what's next,
and whenever I achieved something, whether it was my first
medal on the international stage or first world championship. I
don't think I enjoyed the moment as I should. And
I truly think that if you are present in the
moment and just let things sink and settle in, it
(12:42):
kind of helps you. And I don't think I was
when I was younger. I just always continually wanted more,
and I think that's why I have been so successful now.
But I think as I've gotten older, you know, I'm
coming up to eight years on the national team now,
you have a lot more perspective and experience, and I
think going into these games knowing how it does feel
(13:06):
to win an Olympic gold medal and not knowing whether
I'll have that opportunity again, I'm going to if it
does happen for me. I've promised myself that I will
really revel in that experience and let it truly sink in.
Because I remember last Olympics. I literally, just the day
(13:26):
I want my four hundred, just forgot about it. I
gave a medal with a team manager, I said, you
look after it.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
I don't want to look at it. I didn't even
look at my medal and I.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Just moved on to the next because I had a
job at hand and that got me through the week.
But I truly think I probably never really enjoyed big
moments in my career like I should.
Speaker 1 (13:46):
Have, because you think, well, what's the point if you
don't let it wash over you? And I can imagine
that having been a swimmer for so long and competing
at such a high level for so long, you probably
start to imagine or tell yourself what it should feel
like when you win. That you know, when I win,
(14:06):
it should feel like X, Y, and Z, and when
it doesn't that must be a bit of a discombobulating experience,
like after Tokyo. If it didn't feel how it was
meant to feel, you might be beating yourself up a bit, thinking, no,
I meant to be enjoying this. I meant to be
enjoying this. Do you feel like with the level of
(14:27):
success you've got, it's a bit of a treadmill in
that you achieve something and then you're just straight onto
the next and straight onto the next, and therefore you
don't really get to be present and enjoy the win.
Speaker 2 (14:44):
I think so, and a lot of people determine greatness
on longevity as well and being able to replicate what
you've done again, and for sure that is a real thing.
I mean, no Australian woman has gone back to back
in the same Olympic event other than Dawn Fraser, and
(15:05):
I think it is because of the pedestal you get
put on in this country and you get brought up
in so many external things. Opportunities come from everywhere, and
so I understand that as well as you can, like
off the back of an Olympics, you're pulled in every
single direction. Everyone wants a piece of you, and I
know that it's so much harder to do it the
(15:26):
second time, and I don't think that's why anyone's been
able to go back to back other than Dawn. But
at the end of the day, when you talk about treadmill,
no one can take away from you what you have achieved.
Even if you do it once and once only, You'll
always be an Olympian, You'll always be an Olympic gold medalist.
I will always be a world record holder on no
(15:48):
matter whether I never do it again, they will always
be mine and I've achieved that in my career and
I think whether you do it once or ten times
that both are equally successful. And I think that's something
that I've really thought about a lot lately.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
And that's I think a good perspective on happiness that
you don't necessarily have to feel all the emotions in
the moment, because you've got your life to celebrate that
and to feel happy about that. Like I can imagine
that sometimes it's just a random Tuesday and you're like, damn,
look at what I've done. You don't necessarily have to
(16:25):
feel it when you're on the podium with the gold
medal around your neck. In terms of outside of swimming,
when your whole life has been so consumed by being
so talented at this one thing, do you find that
you have insecurities or things you worry about in other
(16:50):
domains of your life, Like what would you say is
your biggest personal insecurity outside of swimming?
Speaker 2 (16:58):
For me, when I was younger, I defined myself a
distemer and I put so many things in my life
on the back burner for my swimming, and I was
very content with because I was so tunnel vision for
a goal. And as I've gotten older and realize there's
so many more things to your life, I am trying
(17:21):
to discover myself who I am outside of swimming, and
I think sometimes one of my insecurities would be that
maybe I don't have enough to my resume as a
person and people only look at me for my swimming.
With my friends and my family, we never discuss my swimming.
(17:43):
They look at me for who I am. I honestly
hardly talk about it.
Speaker 3 (17:47):
It's my job, you know.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
And so I've figured out that that's not true about
me not having a big enough resume, but I think
to the outside looking in, I think that's what people see.
So I'm looking forward to after these Olympics really exploring
finding pathways of where my career could potentially go beyond
swimming and explore in different parts of myself away from
(18:12):
the sport, Like I'm definitely going to have a break
and do a bit of self discovery and self reflection
and i just want to.
Speaker 3 (18:17):
Be irrelevant for a little while.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
And I have passions outside of swimming as well, which
I really want to draw on. So I think that's
something that I think I've got to work on, really
exploring myself without my sport for a little while.
Speaker 1 (18:33):
Who are you outside swimming? Like, what are some of
those passions.
Speaker 3 (18:37):
Well, who am I?
Speaker 2 (18:38):
I would say People that know me really would say
I'm the biggest goof and like such a weirdo. I
have absolutely zero filter. What you see is what you get,
and I'll never apologize for truly being myself. And in
terms of my passions outside of swimming, I think something
that's a bit of a de stress for me that
(18:59):
I try to do as much as I can is cooking.
I love cooking and I love experimenting and playing with that.
So I don't know whether I'm going to get a
little bit more into that when I'm on break, but
we'll see. I love fashion and I love expressing myself
in that way, and I don't get to dress up
too often now, But when the Olympics is over, I'm
looking forward to, you know, being able to get out
(19:21):
of it more and express myself in that way. And
then something in terms of like career wise, that I've
dabbled in a little bit that I'd love to explore
more is I've worked in broadcasting a little bit, so
I've done a bit of commentating and presenting and I
would love to get into that a little bit more.
And my dad's a journalist, so he likes to think
that like I'm following in his footsteps, which you know
(19:44):
I probably will end up doing. But I've really enjoyed
doing a little bit of that, so I'm excited to
hopefully get into that a little bit more and started
to kind of carve some some pathways for potentially after swimming.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Up. Next, we explore how Arianne thinks she'll feel if
she doesn't win gold at the Olympics, and on the
flip side, how she thinks she'll feel if she does.
Plus is she truly happy? Right now? Stay with us?
(20:22):
Have you thought a lot about and this episode will
be coming out a lot closer to Paris, But say
you get to Paris and say you lose everything when
your mind goes there, which I'm sure it does every
now and then, what do you tell.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
Yourself, Well, if that did happen, which.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
It won't, But just as a thought experiment.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
I'm not gonna lie like I would be utterly disappointed,
like I would be upset. You work so hard, and
I truly believe I'm capable of achieving great things at
these games.
Speaker 3 (21:02):
I know I've.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
Prepared well, but I think I'm content enough with myself
and secure enough in myself and secure in the relationships
around me that I know I would definitely be okay,
And I think it would the disappointment would pass because
I am at the crux of it, content already with
(21:26):
what I have achieved. If I go into these games
knowing I did everything I possibly could and I didn't
win anything, and the other girls were better than me
on the day, They were better than me on the day,
And you can't control what other people do, and you
can't wonder if only I'd done this, if only I'd
done that, or you really can't go in with any
regrets or after thoughts of maybe potentially doing something better.
(21:50):
So I think, if you prepare the best you can,
what happens on the day happens on the day. And yeah,
but I really try not to think about it if
that was to happen.
Speaker 1 (22:01):
How about the moments where you think about winning everything?
What if you go and you win every race, you
win all the golden and it is just as you've
made Australian history. How does that feel when you think
about it?
Speaker 2 (22:19):
I think the word that comes to mind is pride.
I think I'd feel such a sense of pride to
do that for not only myself, but a lot of
people in my life, my coach, my family, my friends,
the country. Of course, I think pride and that really
is what I feel, and I think just a sense
(22:40):
of gratification that I'd got the best out Truly, I
performed the best I possibly could and I got the
best out of myself, a sense that I really perform
the way I thought I was capable of. It's this
internal motivation I think that you kind of draw on
and at the end of the day, it's up to
(23:01):
me to do it. On the day, I can have
as many people around me hope to get me to
where I am, but I'm the one that has to
dive in there and do the race.
Speaker 1 (23:09):
So, Arianne Titmus, you are currently one of Australia's top athletes.
You are one of the best swimmers we've ever seen
in this country, and you're about to go into another
Olympics when you are only twenty three years old. But
(23:30):
are you happy.
Speaker 2 (23:32):
I'm very happy in my life and if swimming was
taken away from me right now, I know I would
still be happy. I have a lot going for me
in my life. Without swimming, I have the most wonderful family,
the most wonderful friends. I live in a great house,
which I'm proud of. I feel like I have a
(23:53):
sense of I don't know. I feel like I have
things I want to do after swimming. So I am
happy in my life and I'm content. And everything happens
this year like I want it to. I feel like
you'd almost have to look at it as a bonus.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Really, soon we are all going to be glued to
our screens watching Arione Tipmas in her goggles and her
cap and her Australian swimsuit, preparing to jump in the pool.
The pressure of that moment will be intense. She'll have
an entire country wanting her to succeed, and she'll have
the eyes of the world on the result. And I
(24:31):
think the only way to ensure that you jump in
the pool and perform your best is to know deep
down that it simply isn't the most important thing, That
who you are is not defined by how you perform
in one race on one day in one year at
one Olympics. Perhaps the reason for Arianne's performance is that
she knows that swimming is what she does, but it
(24:54):
isn't what she is, and she has an entire life
to live with dreams and aspirations outside of that. It's
a beautiful attitude to have, and a very healthy one,
because ultimately, it's not the medals or the awards that
bring us happiness. They make us proud, of course, and
it's part of establishing a sense of self to see
(25:15):
yourself as determined and a hard worker, for example, but
they don't bring true happiness. Arianne is far more than
a swimmer, and perhaps that's worth remembering when we anxiously
watch her on the Starting Blocks. That's our last episode
the season three. I hope you gained something from the
conversations this season, and I would love to hear from
(25:37):
you about what you took from it. You can get
in touch with me on Instagram to share your thoughts
at Claire dot Stevens. I love your dms about what
you thought, or to share guest suggestions for future episodes.
If you enjoyed this season, please leave us a review.
It helps people to find us and it helps us
continue making this a safe space to have vulnerable conversations
(26:01):
about happiness. On last week's episode, I had a conversation
with actor and musician Rob Mills about standing on stage
and feeling lowest, and the nuances of how men deal
with mental health.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
Let us have our bands out like we can't just
have real chatselor top. It's fucking exhausting. You get compassion
fatigue talking about feelings and yak. But you do need
to let off the valve at some stage. But yeah,
that's a good reminder for auokdas know that you might
not be the person to but find someone who is.
Speaker 1 (26:34):
There's a link in the show notes to listen to
that episode while we make our next season. The feed
is always here, so you can scroll back, listen to
any episode that you haven't listened to, re listened to
the ones that meant something to you. We're always here.
You can always find me on Canceled, a comedy podcast
I do with my sister Jesse, or The Baby Bubble,
(26:55):
which is definitely not a parenting advice podcast. This episode
was produced by Tarlie Blackman, with audio production by Scott Stronik.
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