"I will forever be grateful" - Ariarne Titmus reacts to receiving prestigious honor from Tasmania

Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus expresses her gratitude to her Tasmanian countrymates after winning the Tasmanian Athlete of the Year 2024. This is Titmus' fourth consecutive award in the bracket.

This is also the first time in the award's history that an athlete has received it four times. Titmus defeated the likes of Eddie Ockendan, Sarah Hawe, and Alanne Smith to come out on top.

The 24-year-old recently shared a few glimpses from the award ceremony which she attended with her mother, Roby Titmus. During the event, she donned a full black dress and complemented it with a black purse.

In her post, Ariarne Titmus expressed her gratitude for winning the award. She also thanked her native people for showing support to her despite moving out to Queensland in her initial years for better facilities.

She wrote (via her Instagram):

"I was so happy to be able to return home to Tassie and be named Tasmanian Athlete of the Year for the 4th time last week 🤍 I will forever be grateful for the support I have received from my home state since having to relocate to Queensland for my swimming."

Ariarne Titmus had a standout year in 2024 where she defended her 400m freestyle title and combinedly clinched two gold and two silver medals at the Paris Olympics. She also had a great campaign at the Australian and NSW Championships.

Ariarne Titmus reflects on her time during her surgery before Paris Olympics 2024

Titmus celebrating with her 800m freestyle silver medal at the Tokyo Aquatics Center during the delayed 2020 Olympics (Image via: Getty Images)

Ariarne Titmus recently reflected on her time during her surgery eight months before the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Australian swimmer was diagnosed with two tumors in her ovary which were removed.

In an episode of the 'Inherited' podcast, Titmus revealed that the news changed her viewpoint towards life. She also mentioned that the frequent tests for determining the seriousness of the tumor were the most difficult part of this chapter.

She said (from 2:54 onwards):

"It changed my perspective on life quite a lot actually and I am actually glad that I had that experience. The hardest part was going through all the tests, seeing how big it was, whether it was cancerous, how they were going to remove it."

During the podcast, Titmus also stated that she realized she wanted to be a mother during this period.