Ariarne Titmus Confirms Withdrawal From Anti-Doping Testing Pool
Just a handful of days after announcing her surprise retirement from the sport, reports from Australia indicate that Ariarne Titmus has officially been withdrawn from the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) testing pool. According to 7News, Titmus received an email that confirmed she is no longer required to provide whereabouts information for out-of-competition testing.
“This news feels unreal,” Titmus said.
Last week, the Australian freestyle legend took to social media to announce she was walking away from the sport of swimming at the age of 25. A multi-time Olympic champion and world-record setter, Titmus initally planned to take a year off from competition after the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, and then return to training to chase a berth to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
However, Titmus found that the desire to compete at the highest level no longer burned and she opted to walk away from swimming at the peak of her career. Titmus is a lock to be a first-ballot selection for the International Swimming Hall of Fame and leaves the sport as an eight-time Olympic medalist, including back-to-back titles in the 400-meter freestyle at the 2020 and 2024 Games.
In announcing that she has notified anti-doping authorities of her retirement, Titmus indicated she was first tested as a 12-year-old, and missed a birthday party while providing her sample. In the 7News article, she noted that she had to begin providing whereabouts information when she was 15 years old.
