Coming in saying that she thought it’d take a World Record to win a star-studded women’s 400m freestyle race that featured three women who have held the mark, Titmus did just that. She stopped the clock in 3 minutes 55.38 seconds to top the record Summer McIntosh of Canada set four months ago.

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McIntosh led early, but from 100m onwards it was all Titmus. With metronome pacing, the 22-year-old Australian even had a little left to turn it on at the end, breaking 29 seconds for her final 50m.

The event’s reigning Olympic champion, Titmus made it look breathless with a 3.35-second advantage over the USA’s Katie Ledecky - the event's world titlist from Budapest 2022.  

Erika Fairweather of New Zealand reeled in McIntosh down the final length of the pool to take the bronze in 3:59.59, as McIntosh faded to fourth in 3:59.94.