Olympic champion Ariarne Titmus broke Katie Ledecky’s 400m freestyle world record at the Australian Championships.
Titmus finished in three minutes 56.40 seconds to beat the American’s record, set at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, by six hundredths of a second.
Titmus, 21, also got the better of Ledecky to claim gold at last summer’s Tokyo Olympics.
“I guess if you keep surprising yourself it keeps the sport interesting,” the Australian said.
“I never thought this meet, post-Olympics, I’d be swimming faster than Olympic trials and the Olympic Games.”
Titmus had been under world record pace for most of the race in Adelaide, turning at the halfway mark in 1:56.99, before powering home to big cheers from the crowd.
She is not expected to defend her world title against 25-year-old Ledecky in Budapest in June, though, opting to skip the event and focus on the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in July.
