All Scores

Ariarne Titmus is swimming without fear and toward greatness

Ariarne Titmus celebrates after winning the 400m freestyle in record time at the Tokyo Olympics. (Odd Andersen/AFP via Getty Images)

Ariarne Titmus didn’t do much swimming from August through September.

The first two weeks after the Olympics meant quarantine. It was then that Titmus had a chance to reflect on everything she had accomplished.

In Tokyo, the Australian swimmer won gold in the 400-meter freestyle, handing Katie Ledecky her first-ever individual Olympic loss. Titmus’ time of 3:56.69 set an Australian record and made her the second-fastest swimmer in the event, falling just short of Ledecky’s world record from the 2016 Rio Olympics.

She went on to win another individual gold in the 200-meter freestyle, this time setting an Olympic record. Also medaling in the 800-meter freestyle and the 4×200-meter freestyle relay in Tokyo, Titmus returned to Australia with a haul from her first Olympics — two gold medals, one silver and one bronze.

So, it wasn’t easy for the 21-year-old to go from peaking in her sport to, essentially, doing nothing.

“It was a really strange feeling going from the biggest high of your life down to pretty much the most boring two weeks of my life,” Titmus tells Just Women’s Sports. “I don’t think there’s a point in your life where you’re forced to rest and do nothing.”

There was press to be done, and sleep to catch up on. The gravity of what she had accomplished, as a swimmer from the small Australian state of Tasmania, didn’t really set in until Titmus was able to step foot outside of the bubble that she had lived in for the two months leading up to and during Tokyo.

“When I saw my family and the impact that my performance had on them and the emotion that came off, I think that’s when I started to realize what I had achieved,” she says.

“Even coming home now to Australia and walking around and seeing people, I just feel like our country’s had a really rough trot with COVID the past few months. Half the country is in lockdown at the moment. I just think the Olympics probably really lifted the spirits of people.”

***

Steve Titmus knew after Ariarne won her first national junior championship at 15 years old that his daughter could do something special in swimming.

“When Ariarne touched the wall first and we jumped in the air with joy and excitement, the people in front of us turned around and they looked at us and they went, ‘What?’” Steve recalls now. “It was like, ‘No, you’re from Tasmania. You can’t win. That’s an absolute impossibility.’”

After the race, Swimming Australia approached the Titmus family with the notion that Ariarne could one day swim for her country. With 75 percent of Australia’s national team swimmers and coaches working out of Southeast Queensland, the family started having conversations about moving to the area for better training opportunities.

Ariarne talked about it with her parents, Steve and Robyn, and her sister Mia. After about a month of deliberation, they decided she would go.

“We’ve lived by the motto in our family that we never made sacrifices — we made choices,” Steve says. “We made the choice to move to Queensland for her to chase her dreams, but that also gave her younger sister Mia schooling opportunities and career opportunities.”

When training under Peter Gartrell took Ariarne as far as she could go, the Titmus family had another decision to make. Gartrell knew Dean Boxall, who coached one of the best age-group squads in the country at St. Peters Western, and approached him about the possibility of taking her on.

Ariarne knew that making the switch would benefit her swimming. And it helped that their personalities clicked, with Boxall describing her as “a bit of a chatterbox” before their first meeting.

“I went and met with Dean and his values aligned with me. He expects hard work and I love hard work,” Ariarne says. “I also enjoyed him as a person. I felt like we would click really well. I started and everything just fell into place.”

“He was quite flamboyant as a coach,” Steve says. “It was a style that we thought Arnie just might gel with.”

Within the first couple of months of Titmus and Boxall working together, Titmus cracked 4:10 in the 400-meter freestyle for the first time. By the end of 2016, she made her first senior national team.

After Titmus’ first World Championships in 2017, people started paying more attention to the young up-and-comer who might one day unseat Ledecky. Those rumblings grew louder when Titmus beat Ledecky at the 2019 World Championships.

“I think it just was the switch that I needed,” Titmus says. “I don’t think we ever thought that it would pan out like this, though.”

When COVID-19 shut everything down in March 2020, Boxall made sure that Titmus had somewhere to train. Then he would jump into the pool with her so that she had someone to race against.

“I don’t know of anyone who’s more passionate about coaching in this sport than Dean Boxall,” Steve says. “He puts in way beyond what anybody should be expected to put in.”

Eventually, pools in Australia started to open up again, allowing one person per lane and a training window of one hour.

“You couldn’t really do much,” Titmus says. “It was just trying to roll the arms over and get as much swimming in as we could.”

On March 23, the Australian Federation announced it would not send a team to the Olympics due to COVID-19. One week later, the International Olympic Committee postponed the Games until 2021.

“Initially, when the Olympics were postponed, I was like, ‘This is so crap. I’m ready to go now,’” Titmus says. “But then I realized the bigger picture. I don’t think it would have been fair to have the Olympics at that point in time.”

Instead, Titmus embraced the extra year of training, ramping up the intensity in the pool and maintaining minimal contact with the outside world, including friends and family.

The work she and her team put in then to be ready for July makes Titmus’ Olympic gold in the 400 all the more special. It also means that Boxall’s now-infamous reaction to the win didn’t surprise her.

“It was not unexpected,” Titmus says. “That’s typical Dean. That’s just his personality.

“Every time I watch it back, I just laugh more and more because when he grabs that railing, it’s just so funny. … It goes to show how much he had my back.”

img
Titmus and her coach, Dean Boxall, soak in her 200m freestyle win at the Olympics. (Abbie Parr/Getty Images)

***

For as competitive as Titmus and Ledecky are in the pool, the swimmers have a lot of respect for each other and what each has accomplished. Titmus said as much after her win in the 400m freestyle, a sentiment Ledecky was quick to echo.

“She said she couldn’t have done it without me, and I could say the same about her,” Ledecky told NBC after the race in Tokyo. “She’s really pushed me. I think it’s great for the sport.”

“I have a lot of respect for Katie because I know what I’ve had to do to get to this point and swim this fast,” Ariarne says now. “I definitely wouldn’t be in this position without her because she’s just pushed the barrier. … If the goalpost was set back and she was swimming four minutes, I don’t think I’d be under four minutes yet.”

Titmus actually felt a sense of calm in Tokyo. She trusted in her preparation and believed she could achieve what she had set out to do five years prior. Still, beating Ledecky required kicking it into another gear.

“It was a rarity that you would beat Katie Ledecky going 3:58,” she says. “I think the work that I did in the lead-up to these Games in the last few months in the pool just gave me this confidence.

“I was doing things in training I didn’t think I could do at this point in my career. Just having confidence in the work I did really got me over the edge.”

Titmus also felt better physically when she landed in Tokyo. Until the middle of March, an injury to her subscapularis tendon had hindered her training.

“I had to swim for a long time with my shoulder not feeling right,” she says, adding that from December to March she was unable to do a main set, causing her to lose her swimming fitness. “At the Olympics, in the training camp prior, I was still modifying things in Cairns around my shoulder that I couldn’t do.

In the days leading up to her first Olympic race, Titmus says the injury “settled down” and, for the first time in months, her shoulder wasn’t an issue.

The relief helped Titmus unlock the next level in her swimming, the one she knew she’d need to beat Ledecky on the big stage.

“I hope that the way that I swim my races also inspires people to try and change their tactics up and swim with no fear,” she says. “Because that’s just the way I’ve been. I was never afraid to take it to Katie.”

img
Titmus and Ledecky have fostered one of the best rivalries in the sport. (Al Bello/Getty Images)

***

Titmus hasn’t thought much beyond the next couple of months. While she would love to compete in three total Olympics, first there are the 2022 World Championships in May and the Commonwealth Games in August. In all, it’s set to be a busy year.

But first, Titmus plans to take a long break.

“I haven’t had more than two weeks off in a row in my entire life,” she says. “I need time for my body and my mind to recover. I want to go back to training knowing that I’m ready to go and not get to next year and be already like, ‘Oh, I want another break.'”

Titmus will pick her training back up in October, she says, after about eight weeks out of the pool.

“Then it’ll be back to what’s been our life for the past decade,” Steve says. “We’ll be providing the support and stability at home for her to, once again, continue to chase further Olympic dreams.”

In the meantime, she’ll stay active without the added pressure of training. On Sept. 7, Titmus celebrated her 21st birthday over a long lunch with her closest family members and friends. As a certified foodie, Titmus decided on Opa Bar + Mezze in Brisbane.

She’ll also make time to bake and cook the foods she didn’t allow herself to eat prior to the Olympics. There will be heaps of pavlovas, her mother’s favorite dessert, as well as slow-cooked meats thanks to her trusted pressure cooker.

Unlike the pool, the kitchen is a place where Titmus doesn’t have to be racing against the clock.

“It’s just a really relaxing thing for me,” she says. “It keeps my mind off swimming, and I just enjoy the whole creative aspect and making up recipes and really enjoying the calmness.”

With the Paris Olympics just three years away after COVID-19 disrupted the cycle, Titmus doesn’t have as much time to hit the reset button. Luckily, at home, she doesn’t have to worry about being anybody but herself.

“We don’t have any expectation on whether Arnie will defend her gold medals,” Steve says. “Arnie is still, now, our 21-year-old daughter, and she is this goofy girl who happens to be able to swim faster than most other people in the world.

“From our point of view, Mia’s nursing studies are just as important and a thrill for us as Ariarne chasing an Olympic gold medal.”

Still, Steve is looking forward to seeing what Ariarne can accomplish in the next three years and beyond.

So is she, all while trying not to lose sight of what drew her to the pool in the first place.

“Once you get the taste of winning, it’s very addictive, and winning at the highest level is very addictive,” Ariarne says. “I still feel like, even though I’m now an Olympic champion, I have so much more to give in the sport and so much more to learn.”

Christen Press back training with Angel City FC

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 15: Christen Press #23 of Angel City FC waves to fans following a game between the Portland Thorns and Angel City FC at BMO Stadium on October 15, 2023 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Katharine Lotze/Getty Images)

Christen Press continues to inch her way back to a return, having returned to training with her club team Angel City. 

Angel City FC coach Becki Tweed said on Wednesday that Press is back with the team full-time as she continues to make her way back from an ACL injury. While she’s still working on rehab, her being back with the team gives staff a better picture of her progress. 

"Christen [Press] is back with us full time which is amazing,” she said. “Having her in and around the team every day, continuing to work hard on rehab ... she's in a space where being in with the team is really important to her and her progression as well.”

The status update comes days after Press posted videos to social media that featured her doing lateral movement in cleats on grass. 

“Look out world she’s on the move !” Press captioned it. 

Press has been sidelined with an ACL injury since 2022, which caused her to miss the 2023 World Cup. She’s since had four separate surgeries to help repair her ACL.

Press told The Athletic a month ago that she’s been “relentless” in her optimism with her recovery despite it being a “slow process.”

“I have a bit of relentless optimism,” she told The Athletic. “I never, ever doubted that I would make it back on any of the timelines I’ve been on."

"Every single time I’ve heard, ‘You have to have surgery,’ I’m completely shocked,” she said. “When somebody asks me how it’s going, I’m like, ‘It’s going great. And it was going great every time. So I don’t know what to tell you anymore!’”

Sophia Smith re-signs with Portland on record deal

(Troy Wayrynen-USA TODAY Sports)

Sophia Smith is now the NWSL’s highest-paid player. 

The Portland Thorns announced on Wednesday that they have signed Smith to a new contract through the 2025 season, with an option for 2026. While the terms of the deal were not disclosed, the team did reveal that Smith is now the highest-paid player in the league on an annual basis.

It’s the latest in what has been a series of record-breaking contracts in the NWSL offseason. 

Chicago Red Stars forward Mallory Swanson, Bay FC forward Racheal Kundananji, and Orlando Pride forward Barbra Banda all signed multi-year deals worth between $2 million and $2.5 million in total. While Smith’s contract is shorter and not worth as much over the long-term, the annual worth is higher. 

“We are over the moon to have Soph commit again to the Thorns. She is a proven, world-class talent and one that we are excited to have contribute to the team’s continued success,” said head coach Mike Norris in a statement. “We look forward to working with her in a Thorns jersey as she continues to shine as one of the top strikers in the world.”

In just four seasons in the NWSL, Smith has led the Thorns to five trophies – including the 2022 NWSL championship – while winning league and championship MVP in 2022. In 61 appearances with Portland, she has 34 goals – including a brace to start this season against Kansas City. 

She’s also a member of the USWNT, having scored 16 goals in 44 international appearances.  Set to become a free agent at the end of this season, she told ESPN she “thought of all the options” but ultimately Portland felt like the right decision.

"There is no place like Portland," Smith said in a small roundtable interview that included ESPN. "I don't believe there's an environment like Portland to play in and it's a city that's so special to me and a city that I feel like I've grown up in almost and become who I am."

She also told ESPN that the team’s new ownership “changes everything.” The club is now led by the Bhathal family, who bought the club after Merritt Paulson was forced to sell it following his part in the NWSL’s abuse scandal. 

"Since I've been here there has been a lot of things going on with this club -- a lot of not-great things going on with this club -- and I have just been waiting for some stability and some reassurance that this club is headed in the right direction, and the Bhathal family coming in is doing exactly that, if not more,” Smith said. 

"Their vision for this club is so exciting, and you can just tell how passionate they are about making this what it should be and continuing to push the standard in women's soccer globally.”

Caitlin Clark offered $5 million to compete in Ice Cube’s league

IOWA CITY, IOWA- MARCH 25: Guard Caitlin Clark #22 of the Iowa Hawkeyes celebrates as time runs out in the second half against the West Virginia Mountaineers during their second round match-up in the 2024 NCAA Division 1 Women's Basketball Championship at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on March 25, 2024 in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Holst/Getty Images)

Caitlin Clark has been offered $5 million to play in Ice Cube's Big3 league, he confirmed on social media Wednesday after the offer leaked.

"We intended the offer to remain private while Caitlin Clark plays for the championship," Ice Cube wrote on social media. "But I won't deny what's now already out there: BIG3 made a historic offer to Caitlin Clark. Why wouldn't we? Caitlin is a generational athlete who can achieve tremendous success in the BIG3."

While there has yet to be a women's player in the league, both Nancy Lieberman and Lisa Leslie have been part of the league as coaches and won championships.

"The skeptics laughed when we made Nancy Lieberman the first female coach of a men's pro team, and she won the championship in her first year," Ice Cube continued. "Then Lisa Leslie won it all in year two. With our offer, Caitlin Clark can make history and break down even more barriers for women athletes."

Ice Cube, whose name is O’Shea Jackson, says that the offer was made with the intention that Clark be able to compete in the WNBA “offseason.” Clark is largely expected to be the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft in April. But it’s unclear how the scheduling of the two leagues would work. 

The 2024 Big3 season is set to tip off on June 15, with 10 games spanning through mid-August. The WNBA regular season, meanwhile, begins on May 14 and ends on Sept. 19.

On “The Pat McAfee Show” on Wednesday, Jackson said that the league has yet to hear back from Clark. 

“We just need an answer, as soon as they are ready to give it to us,” he said. “It’s always 50-50 till we get a no. At the end of the day, it’s a generous offer.”

The offer – as well as the confusion on Jackson’s part about the timing of the WNBA season – caused some current WNBA players to react. 

"It's funny cause I be seeing his son at W games.. they don't talk?" wrote former No. 1 pick Rhyne Howard

"So no other women's basketball player has came to mind in the last 7 years?" wrote Lexie Brown, adding that she'd support if Ice Cube wanted to build a women's iteration of the league. She later discussed it on the Gils Arena Show, noting that his reasoning of wanting to “uplift and support WNBA players and women athletes” is a “cop out.”

Kalani Brown, meanwhile, told Clark to "take that money" and start a women's Big3.

WNBA salaries has been a talking point in recent months as more collegiate stars declare for the league. WNBA stars have often made more money playing abroad than they have in the WNBA. Clark is expected to be the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft on April 15, with a rookie salary of $76,535 for lottery draft picks (Nos. 1-4) that rises to $97,582 by her fourth season. But she also has an NIL valuation of almost $3.5 million.

Diana Taurasi famously skipped the 2015 WNBA season at the request of her Russian club, who paid her more to sit out than she would have made in the W. Her contract with the club was reportedly near $1.5 million per year.

Jackson also seemed to suggest that his league could be an alternative to going abroad

“America’s women athletes should not be forced to spend their off seasons playing in often dismal and dubious foreign countries just to make ends meet,” he wrote. Although it’s unclear whether or not the rapper intends to make offers to additional WNBA players. 

While the league does hold prioritization rules in its CBA, those typically apply only to players playing in overseas leagues. It’s unclear whether or not that would prevent Clark’s participation in the Big3 league.

WNBA players that don’t want to go overseas currently have the option of playing in Athletes Unlimited, which competes in the WNBA offseason.

USC’s Aaliyah Gayles Opens Up About Her Journey Back to Basketball

USC Basketball - Aaliyah Gayles

As part of our 1-v-1 video series, USC’s India Otto sat down to interview her teammate Aaliyah Gayles. Here are five things to know from our conversation with the redshirt freshman guard from Las Vegas.

#1 Aaliyah suffered from a near-death act of violence in 2022.

The incident taught her a lot about herself and the support around her. “[USC] Coach Lindsay [Gottlieb] was one of the first people to fly out there and come see me. That means a lot to me off the court.” 

#2 Her favorite USC memory is when she surprised her teammates after getting out of the hospital.

She left her walker at the door to show she was on the road to returning to the court. “That was my favorite memory because it was family. It was my first time being able to walk to you guys and see you practice.”

#3 There's a reason she wears #3.

#3 was her grandpa’s favorite number and a golden number in her life. Plus, AG3 has a nice ring to it. 

#4 She has a list of basketball GOAT’s:

Candace Parker, Magic Johnson, Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, and Cason Wallace.

#5 There have been many celebrity appearances at USC’s games over the years, especially this season.

Aaliyah’s favorites include Will Ferrell, Kehlani, and Saweetie. And she hopes Lil Durk will come to watch a game soon.

Watch the full conversation on the Just Women’s Sports YouTube channel.

Start your morning off right with Just Women’s Sports’ free, 5x-a-week newsletter.