Zac Stubblety-Cook relaxed and calm in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympic Games swimming trials

Zac Stubblety-Cook is at his best when he is relaxed and calm, and that is the way he plans to stay in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympic Games swimming trials in June.

Zac Stubblety-Cook is at his best when he is relaxed and calm, and that is the way he plans to stay in the lead-up to the Tokyo Olympic Games swimming trials in June.

Yes the stakes were becoming higher the closer he gets to the trials, but the Nathan resident is calm and has a clear vision of the path he is taking.

A new subscription deal starting tomorrow. still nice and cheap

He is also using the pressure of the Olympic trials as a positive to make him a better swimmer rather than be crushed as the shadow of the Olympic Games closes in.

Zac Stubblety-Cook. (AAP Image/Mark Brake)

“I have to treat it as another swim meet, but I notice myself lifting in sessions,’’ Stubblety-Cook said. “I want to be on the team and do my best this year.’’

Stubblety-Cook, who claimed a 200m breaststroke silver medal at the 2018 Pan Pacs, backed that up with a fourth at the world championships earlier in 2019.

Zac Stubblety-Cook, left, and Matthew Wilson with their 2018 Pan Pacs medals. (Photo by Kiyoshi Ota/Getty Images)

“I am in a good position,’’ said the Vince Raleigh-coached swimmer. “I was fourth at the worlds.

“I was happy with that, but I want more. Having that experience (at the worlds) fuels me every day.

“I want to show them the best of me and get the best out of myself.

“I am moving forward. It is one day at a time. I am enjoying the ride.’’

His first Olympic memory was as Wellers Hill State School student in 2008.

The great Michael Phelps inspired Stubblety-Cook. (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

It was when the legendary USA swim giant Michael Phelps did everything but declare the Olympics open and man the canteen in the athletes village on his way to winning eight gold medals.

“I did not know I would be a breaststroker, but I was watching the swimming and the atmosphere and the performance of Phelps, even though you did not know the gravity of what he did it at the time,’’ he said.