Australia’s Zac Stubblety-Cook is synonymous with men’s 200m breaststroke dominance, as the 23-year-old owns the World Record and just followed up his 2020 Olympic gold with a podium-topping performance at this year’s World Championships.
With this year’s Commonwealth Games on the horizon, Stubblety-Cook recently reflected on his 2018 performance on the Gold Coast, as well as gave insight into his mindest heading into Birmingham.
“For me, Gold Coast wasn’t the best meet. So, hopefully, I can redeem a little bit this time. Makes me realize how narrow of an opportunity it is. It taught me a lot of lessons and I’m grateful for that experience.”
At the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Stubblety-Cook placed 10th in the 200m breast in a time of 2:15.71, rendering himself out of the final on his home soil.
The following year at the World Championships in Gwangju, Stubblety-Cook finished 4th in the event, while at the 2020 Olympic Games last year, he convincingly took gold in a mark of 2:06.38 for a new Olympic Record.
This past May he raised the bar even further, clocking a massive 2:05.95 World Record to become the first man ever to delve under the 2:06 threshold in the 2breast event.
Drawin on those successes, Stubblety-Cook says of this year’s Commonwealth Games, “I have more experience, so this will be very different.
“I really enjoy racing, really enjoy getting the best out of myself in those moments. I’m getting as much work in as I can in these couple of weeks and then rest up into Birmingham.”
Regarding the whole of the Australian Commonwealth Games team, the breaststroking ace says, “We’re one team working toward one goal – it’s really exciting, really good feeling.”
Gyurta 2.0!
Or Gyurta was Zac beta! 🙂