Pool renamed to honour Olympic champion
Published on 31 January 2022
The City of Launceston has officially renamed the 50m competition pool at the Launceston Leisure and Aquatic Centre in honour of the city's Olympic and world champion Ariarne Titmus.
Titmus was bestowed the City's highest honour - the Key to the City - in September last year at a ceremony in Civic Square.
The key presentation and pool naming honour were initiated by a notice of motion from Deputy Mayor Danny Gibson following the former Launceston swimmer's incredible success by winning four medals - including two gold - at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.
From Saturday, the competition pool at the aquatic centre has been rebadged as the Ariarne Titmus 50m Competition Pool.
City of Launceston Albert van Zetten said he was particularly proud to officiate in the unveiling of the pool in honour of the 21-year-old world champion after presenting Titmus with the Key to the City less than a year ago.
"I don't think there's any doubt that Ariarne is an incredible role model for all aspiring young Tasmanian athletes. She's not only an incredible swimmer, but a genuinely humble champion that all young people can look up to and admire," Mayor van Zetten said.
"I want to commend the Deputy Mayor for his original notice of motion - it is both timely and much deserved to honour such an incredible young Launceston-born athlete in this manner."
Born and bred in Launceston, Titmus moved with her family to Brisbane in 2015 when she was 14 to further her dreams of representing Australia at the highest level.
Titmus became Tasmania's first individual Olympic champion in Tokyo, winning gold in both 200m and 400m freestyle finals, a silver in the 800m and bronze in the 4x200m relay.
The Council has also announced that it will launch the inaugural Ariarne Titmus Swimming Scholarship in the coming weeks.
Mayor van Zetten said that he expected the criteria for the scholarship would come to Council for endorsement, with the aim of rewarding the hard work and skill of Launceston's finest junior swimmers and provide them further opportunities to achieve success.
"The purpose of the scholarship will be to help identify the next budding world champion in the pool from across our talented ranks of junior athletes from across the city - and then to give them some assistance where we can," Mayor van Zetten said.
"Launceston has such a long and rich tradition of producing world-class athletes dating back many, many decades and I have no doubt the next budding superstar is on the cusp of making their big breakthrough."