Ariarne Titmus says breaking the 200m freestyle world record is a bonus from her unparalleled duel in the pool with compatriot Mollie O’Callaghan. Titmus took the record from O’Callaghan in a stunning battle on Wednesday night at Australia’s Olympic swimming selection trials in Brisbane.

The 23-year-old clocked one minute 52.23 seconds, bettering O’Callaghan’s benchmark of 1:52.85 set at last year’s world championships. O’Callaghan also eclipsed her previous mark, finishing in 1:52.48 – the second-fastest time in history.

Titmus now holds the 200m and 400m freestyle world records and is the reigning Olympic champion in both events.

“Honestly, the world record is a bonus,” she said. “I am happy to finally put together a swim that I know I’m capable of and it’s exciting to do it in my home town, in front of a hometown crowd.”

Titmus said she didn’t use O’Callaghan’s feat at last year’s world titles in Japan as motivation, despite both swimmers being coached by Dean Boxall.

“We really don’t see what each other is doing in training, we are very separate – she trains for the sprint events, I train for middle distance,” Titmus said. “Looking at a world record, I don’t look at who has it. I look at the time.

“Honestly, that wasn’t really on my radar coming into this. I just wanted to put together a great swim and I have the chance to do it again in Paris.”

O’Callaghan admitted to severe pre-race anxiety stemming from entering the final as the record holder.

“I couldn’t really sleep last night,” she said. “It really takes the pressure off me, because coming into this (meet) I was not in a good place,” she said.

Such was the dominance of Titmus and O’Callaghan they finished more than three seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Shayna Jack tied for fifth, securing a debut Olympic appearance after serving a two-year doping ban from 2019.

The top six in the final – Titmus, O’Callaghan, Lani Pallister, Brianna Throssell, Jack and Jamie Perkins – will comprise Australia’s 4x200m freestyle relay squad in Paris.

Cameron McEvoy became the first Australian male swimmer to qualify for four Olympics after winning the 50m freestyle in 21.35 seconds.

“It’s special because you could almost fill a book with legendary Aussie male names in the sport,” the 30-year-old said. “To have the privilege of having that title, having that type of longevity … it shines a lot on the persistence and perseverance that I have had.”

McEvoy took a break from the sport before returning with a revolutionary training approach which includes rock climbing and calisthenics rather than huge amounts of swimming.

“My goal was to just come back, give this new training approach a go and see what happens,” McEvoy said. “What I have done so far has just obliterated any expectations I had.”

Bowen Gough won the men’s 200m butterfly in 1:56.18 from Harrison Turner (1:57.07). Both were outside the automatic qualifying time for the Games set by Swimming Australia, leaving their Olympic hopes resting on selectors’ discretion.