Superstar Australian swimming duo Ariarne Titmus and Mollie O’Callaghan are both safely through to the 200m freestyle Olympic final after clinical efforts in Monday morning’s (AEST) semi-final.
Fresh off her 400m gold medal on Sunday morning, Titmus won the second semi of the morning with a time of 1:54.64, just 0.06 seconds ahead of O’Callaghan in second.
Titmus hit the halfway mark in front and looked “very comfortable”, according to Australian swimming great Giaan Rooney, as O’Callaghan fought to claw back from fourth.
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She did just that, closing the gap to Titmus with a brilliant final turn at the 150m mark.
“Mollie sneaks up a little bit, that was a great turn for her,” Ian Thorpe said on commentary.
The Australian pair are the only swimmers to have gone under 1:55 and will start the final from lanes four and five.
Mat Thompson was blown away by O’Callaghan’s closing speed.
“It’s amazing how she was able to make up that deficit in the space of 15 metres,” he said.
Thorpe explained that it was her extraordinary underwater ability that did it.
“That’s the turn, and that’s the difference, when you have that level of skill that Mollie has underwater, that Arnie has to contend with and the rest of the world has to contend with, against Mollie O’Callaghan,” he said.
Speaking after the race, O’Callaghan said she’s excited for a crack at the final.
“This is like my first individual at an Olympics so I’m just stoked to be here,” she told Nine.
“To have such a stacked semi-final, I was just mainly thinking about myself and setting it up for tomorrow.”
The 20-year-old said her body is prepared for the hectic swimming schedule, but it makes it hard to slow down and recharge mentally.
“I can’t nap because I’m just overthinking too much,” she said.
“But I have an amazing support team who are always there for me.”
A clinical Titmus said the semi gave her great confidence she can defend her 200m Olympic crown.
“I’m excited, it’s good to have a race,” she said.
“It’s going to be a tough race tomorrow night for sure but it’ll be good to see what I’m capable of.”
American Clare Weinsten won the first semi-final in a cool time of 1:55.24, 0.82 seconds ahead of Barbora Seemanova.
Earlier, Titmus still clocked a time of 1:56.23 in her heat, which was the third fastest overall, behind O’Callaghan’s 1:55.79, which was the fastest set.
The Australians will now battle it out for a potential goal medal on Tuesday morning.
“It’s definitely that you feel a bit sluggish in the water after a big night,” Titmus said after her heat on Sunday night.
“But I had a pretty good rest, just tried to forget about (the 400m race) as much as I could. And the 200 is now the focus.”
Titmus is seeking to become the first swimmer to defend a 200-400 double at an Olympics, after winning both events at the Tokyo Games three years ago.
But O’Callaghan, who featured in Australia’s 4x100m freestyle triumph on Saturday night, is trying to dash that ambition.
“I’m not ranked first, so in the end the pressure is on the people who are No.1 or past Olympic champions,” she said.
“This is my first time having an individual Olympics (swim) and it’s new and fresh for me so I have just got to learn as I go.”