Tokyo Olympics 2021: Who is Olympic smokey Zac Stubblety-Cook?
An Olympic gold medallist that was scared of the water that most of us have never heard of with an awesome surname. Robert Craddock has thw lowdown on Zac Stubblety-Cook.
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Olympic silver medallist Mark Stockwell last week told a crowd of 800 at a lunch in Brisbane he had a man to watch for the Tokyo Games … Zac Stubblety-Cook.
“He’s my smokey,’’ declared Stockwell and the reaction was telling.
A couple of people clapped. An old schoolmate went “whoa’’. But mostly there was just silence among the throng.
Most just continued to stare at the speaker thinking “fair enough’’ without any recognition because they did not really know his name.
And yet – and yet – Zac Stubblety-Cook rose to Olympic glory among them.
He went to primary school at Wellers Hill 6.7 kilometres away from the very seats in which they were sitting at the lunch at the Brisbane Convention Centre.
He went to secondary school at the Anglican Grammar School (Churchie) which was four kilometres away. He trained at Chandler which is 16 kilometres up the road and lives at Nathan 10.7 kilometres away.
How local do you want the kid to be?
Yet the swimmer with the unforgettable name had somehow been forgotten in the Olympic build-up despite the fact he was a Pac Pac champion and respected throughout the world.
Somehow the dazzling lights which trailed Arnie and Emma and Kaylee missed Gelignite Zac who produced one of the most stirring Olympic finished since ... Ariane Titmus the previous day to win a rousing 200m breaststroke gold.
Here’s five things you might like to know about him.
# He was scared of the water as a child when he first encountered it at Wellers Hill State School.
# In one of his first efforts in the pool he can still remember swimming a half lap, closing his eyes and head butting the wall.
# He became a breaststroker after being inspired by the legendary USA swim giant Michael Phelps during his eight gold medal spree at the Beijing Olympics. “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.
# He felt he “a sense of embarrassment -“ I choked’’ - after failing at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. He had admitted to being “broken’’ by the experience but in a way it also made him because …
# Back he roared back to win gold at the Pac Pacs. He knew it was a moment when his self belief was on the line. As he looked down the lane he thought “a’mon … seize the moment.’’
He did – again today – extraordinary.
Even his mother Julie was shocked by his progress.
“We were just hoping for him to make the semi-finals,’’ she told Channel 7.
“What a reward it is for all the effort he put in.’’
He may have flown under the radar but he is as good a story as Australian in these Games ... a kid who hit the wall when he first swam and was broken when he failed at the Commonwealth Games he won Olympic gold.
A smokey no more.
TITMUS FAMILY GOES WILD AS TERMINATOR MAKES HISTORY
Pool legend Dawn Fraser dubbed Ariarne Titmus the dominant swimmer in the world – male or female – after another turbocharged Tokyo gold medal.
Just two days after her stunning win over Katie Ledecky in the 400m freestyle final, Titmus has added the 200m gold.
“I’m so impressed by her,’’ said Olympic legend Fraser as she rose to her feet beside parents Steve and Robyn in the parents and friends hub in Noosa.
“It is amazing the way she just sticks to her plan all the way. She doesn’t get drawn into other people’s races.
“I don’t think it is fair to go back in time and compare other eras but I do think she has proven she is the best in world at the moment and that includes everyone, male or female because no-one can beat her.’’
Titmus’ father Steve joked he felt he was going to have a heart attack as his pulse raced as she surged towards the lead from midfield.
“What a racer, what guts,’’ Steve said. “After the first 100m I was a bit worried because she was a long way back but with 50m to go she just went boom!
“She was kicking really hard and the stroke was just awesome. She just accelerated. She is such a great racer. She just takes off.’’
Her mother, Robyn Titmus, was over the moon.
They’re different races,” Robyn told Channel 7.
“You know, this is so tight and she always comes home strong. Us Aussies, we’ve got swimmers that leave it to the last few metres before they touch the wall first.
“Honestly, we were nearly having a heart attack.”
Titmus’ grandmother Sandra said she couldn't control her nerves during the race.
There were certainly a lot of butterflies,” Sandra told Channel 7.
“I wasn’t so concerned before the four but when it came to the two today, I thought it’s a shorter race, can she make up enough time and come back home very fast to win it but she did it.
“What a way she did it. Absolutely fantastic race. We’re so very proud.
It has been amazing for both Kevin and I.
“We are so grateful that we could be here with all these lovely people to celebrate with so many.”
Sandra said it had been difficult watching her family move away to chase Titmus’ Olympic dream but the pay-off had been worth it.
“We said, ‘for her future, they’ve got to do it’, she said.
“Well, it’s paid off, hasn’t it? Well and truly?”
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