"We just wanted to obviously give her a big hug, but we wouldn't have been able to do that if we were in Tokyo anyway."
Robyn Titmus is upbeat about being separated from her superstar daughter, Ariarne.
"FaceTime was the next best thing," she said from Noosa in Queensland, where she, her husband Steve and their daughter Mia watched Ariarne win Olympic gold in the 400m freestyle final on Monday, beating US rival Katie Ledecky.
It's been described as one of the great moments in Australian Olympic history.
On Wednesday, Ariarne struck gold again in the 200m freestyle, joining Shane Gould and Ian Thorpe as the only Australians to win the 200m and 400m double at an Olympic Games.
Watching Ariarne win gold from Noosa
Originally from Launceston in Northern Tasmania, the Titmus family moved to Queensland six years ago to help Ariarne pursue her swimming career.
Robyn says they've gotten to know many families through the journey of their daughter's swimming career who also understand what it's like to support an elite athlete.
"It's understanding that they need their sleep of a night, so you turn the TV down or you don't have loud parties when you know they've got to get up and go to training the next day," Robyn says.
"You understand that the grocery bill is probably going to be triple most families.
"You wash towels every day, and you're there as a support so that when they come home, they can switch off from the swimming and the training."
Now, along with other Olympic family members, the Titmus family are watching the games from a resort on the Sunshine Coast.
They were invited to a special celebration on Makepeace Island, by friend Stuart Giles, to celebrate Ariarne's win.
'The pod' has become the nickname for the resort where families of our Olympic hopefuls have gathered after COVID restrictions meant they were unable to cheer their loved ones on in Tokyo.
"We've decorated the room out in Australian decorations and the boxing kangaroo and balloons, and that was part of the fun in getting ready and welcoming everybody on Friday," Robyn Titmus told ABC Radio Hobart.
A missed call
The family of the gold-medal winner were celebrating so much after Ariarne's win they missed a call from the swimming star.
"We all put our phones down, we just wanted to sit back and enjoy this wonderful experience."
But late Monday night they got to have a private call with their now world-famous daughter.
"They had drug testing, the ceremony, she had to cool down and then get back to the village, then have something to eat," Robyn says.
"I think she had about a 40-minute rest, and then she was back out in the pool for the first lot of heats, then she had to cool down again and maybe get a massage. get the bus back to the village, so it was quite late and she was quite tired."
But Ariarne didn't want to celebrate too much, with the 200m, the relay and the 800m still ahead of her at the time.
"She was holding it in, and I think part of the secret of doing so well is she doesn't get carried away with it," Robyn says.
Her dad, Steve Titmus, agrees.
"We just told her how much we love her and how proud we were of her and how inspirational she'd been for everyone," he told the ABC.
"It was a quite a surreal moment because to know that your daughter is now an Olympic champion, and she's done it in such a manner, is something only dreams are made of."
'It's like a big family'
Robyn says support from the other PODS has also been great for their daughter Mia.
"She enjoys coming away with us and watching, and she's having a lovely time with other siblings of swimmers up here.
"They all meet up and it's like a big family."
Mia is also a sports lover — swimming, cross-country running and playing netball — but her focus is on getting a nursing degree.
"We adore our two daughters and we have got a very big soft spot for Mia," Robyn says.
"Mia is so thankful to have a sister like Ariarne and she understands that the relationship she has with her sister is probably quite different than in other families."
Robyn Titmus says the support they have received from the Australian public has also helped them manage being apart from Ariarne.
"We're a little bit isolated here, but the messages from people that we know in Australia and particularly in Tassie, people that I went to school with, have reached out and said they've cried.
"People just reached out saying it is so good to have a good news story.
"You know, we just needed something like that to be able to focus on."
Celebrations all round
Steve says he's not bothered by the focus on coach Dean Boxall, who gained international notoriety when he tore off his face mask and hip-thrust a glass wall after Titmus won the 400m.
"I think it's the exuberance of Dean and the calmness that Arnie [Ariarne] that actually really works," he says.
"I think what we saw was the emotion between two people who strived so much when there's been so much at stake, and such a difficult task as well.
"Two people, a coach and an athlete, have pulled off what they've been trying to do for a number of years."
Ariarne Titmus remains a medal chance in the 4x200m relay (July 29) and 800m (July 31).
She says she would not fully start celebrating until they were out of the way.
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