Toko Olympics 2021: Rivals Zac Stubblety Cook and Matt Wilson making Olympic debut in the pool
Racing against each other over the last 12 years, swimming duo Zac Stubblety-Cook and Matt Wilson are set to make a splash in their first Olympics.
Swimming
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Australian swimmer Zac Stubblety-Cook has one thing on his mind going into the Tokyo Olympics and rival of 12 years Matt Wilson is helping him get there.
The duo, both 22, will make their Olympic debut in a week.
Both found themselves in the spotlight at the Australian Swimming team trials.
Stubblety-Cook for his impressive times in the pool and Wilson for finishing just a heartbeat away from the required qualifying time.
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In the days following the trials it was revealed Wilson’s grandmother had died just a few days before the trials.
Swimming Australia opted to make an exception and named Wilson in the team.
A former World Record holder and silver medallist at the 2019 world championships – Wilson will be one of Stubblety-Cook’s toughest competitors in the pool in Tokyo.
Stubblety-Cook and Wilson have been competing against each other since they were nine-years-old.
“Looking back after trials I realised Matt and I have probably been racing each other for the better half of 12 years, and it is just great to be able to race him on a world stage,” Stubblety-Cook said.
The duo have been together in Cairns, with the rest of the swimming team, for a two-week training camp – and they have been keeping a close on each other.
“I’ve been watching what he is doing and he has seen what I’ve been doing and we are always pushing each other,” Stubblety-Cook said.
The Brisbane swimmer had a great result when he last swam in Tokyo at the 2019 Pan Pacific Championships – finishing second in the 200m breaststroke.
At the recent trials he set a new Commonwealth and National record in the 200m breaststroke.
Stubblety-Cook said what he achieved at the trials was still sinking in and it was all a bit “surreal”.
His forms means he is a hot favourite to finish on the podium in both the 100m and 200m breaststroke events at the Olympics but it isn't something Stubblety-Cook is focusing on.
“I’ve enjoyed being able to focus just on swimming and getting the best out of myself for the couple of weeks we have been here,” he said.
“There is no real expectation going forward, the goal is to perform at our best and if that means medals that means medals.
“As a team we don’t really talk about it. We talk about the process and executing the process and getting the best out of ourselves.”
The swimming team is due to leave for Tokyo today and the rookie said he was just “excited” to race.
The swimming programs starts on July 24, with the 100m breaststroke heats on day 1.
Why Aussie swim sensation’s tipped for Tokyo glory
After blowing the candles out on her teenage years, Australian swim sensation Kaylee McKeown got straight back into her preparations to hopefully blow the opposition out of the water at the Tokyo Olympics.
McKeown celebrated her 20th birthday on Monday at the Australian swim team’s training camp in Cairns but kept the festivities short because she’s got her eyes on a bigger prize.
Ranked No. 1 in the world in 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke and 200m individual medley, McKeown will head to Japan with the added weight of being among the medal favourites but with her feet still planted on the ground.
Like Wimbledon champion Ash Barty, McKeown is surrounded by people who keep her level headed by focusing on hard work and never getting ahead of themselves.
“We’re definitely aware of the pressures and the expectations but we’ve always been a team that’s focused on process,” McKeown’s coach Chris Mooney said.
“So we’ll focus on skills. We’ll focus on the work that we’ve done over the last five years, let alone the last five weeks.
“And we’ll have a race plan and we’ll stick to that race plan and hopefully that result will be favourable.”
Those that know McKeown best are confident that her unassuming manner has left her well equipped to handle the suffocating pressure of the Olympics.
There’s no question she has the speed and ability to do well – having broken the 100m backstroke world record at last month’s Australian trials - but with no crowds allowed and the finals switched from their traditional evening timeslots to mid morning, the difference between winning and losing could come down to what takes place in swimmers’ heads rather than their bodies.
“The fact that the Olympics are on, to me, gives hope to the world and hope to other athletes that have sweated and slogged it out and worked their tails off and made all those sacrifices to be at the Olympics,” Mooney said.
“They’re going to put on a spectacle and it’s going to look fantastic on television.
“I believe it’ll be probably more of a match race in regards to the finals, not always being the fastest, but it’ll definitely be that person that can get to the wall in front of the other seven people in that race.
“I think it’ll just be good old fashioned racing rather than times.”
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Kaylee McKeown was going stir-crazy trying to take a rest after the Paris Olympics. So the backstroke star jumped back in the pool and casually broke another world record.