Four-time Olympic gold medallist Ariarne Titmus has announced her shock retirement from swimming.

The 25-year-old, who grew up in Tasmania, will retire as one of the greatest distance swimmers of all time.

She said she expected to return to swimming after a break after the Olympics, but changed her mind.

“It’s a tough one but one that I’m really happy with,” Titmus said in an Instagram post.

“I’ve always loved swimming, it’s been my passion since I was a, a little girl, but I guess I’ve taken this time away from the sport and realised some things in my life that have always been important to me are just a little bit more important to me now than swimming and that’s OK, but yeah, here we are.”

At the Paris Olympics last year, Titmus achieved an historic third individual Olympic gold

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