Zac Stubblety-Cook Back To Bolster Dolphins Breaststroke Stocks At Australian Open Championships
Aussie breaststroke aces Zac Stubblety-Cook and Sam Williamson are back on track for a busy international year of racing as he sets his sights on a third Olympics in LA in 2028.
Twenty-seven-year-old 2021 Olympic champion and Paris silver medallist Stubblety -Cook, was forced out of last year’s World Championships with a back injury.
But on the eve of this week’s three-day Australian Open on the Gold Coast (April 6-8) the former world record holder has declared he is fighting fit and ready to mount his challenge for this year’s Commonwealth Games and Pan Pac campaign.
“It hurt to miss the World Championships and it was a bit more disappointing because I would have been competitive but I am 100 per cent now and am back at my best,” Stubblety-Cook said.
“With myself coming back and Sam (Williamson) also back from injury and swimming fast … throw in Gideon Burnes … and it’s an exciting time for male breaststrokers in Australia.
“The Australian Open will be good to see where I am at with race structure against the best swimmers here in Australia and at the same pool I raced my first senior meet – which was the 2018 Commonwealth Games.”
Stubblety-Cook declared that Marshall is a new flavour.
“It’s a different lifestyle and a different coaching style and I am enjoying it down on the Gold Coast,” said Stubblety-Cook with the 2028 Olympics on the horizon.
“The two international meets (this year) are very different.
“There’s a young kid from Isle of Man swimming fast and Shin Ohashi a 17-year-old from Japan who is world class and could be the next Kitajima (4x Olympic gold medallist in breaststroke).
“And I know where I believe I can get to and be competitive.”
Stubblety- Cook will be in action on day one (Monday, April 6) with his pet event, the 200m followed by the 100m on day two.
The Commonwealth, Australian and Australian All-Comers record hold with his lifetime best of 2:05.95, comes in as the fastest qualifier on 2:09.09 followed by fellow Gold Coaster Joshua Collett (Bond) 2:10.02 and former training partner, Bailey Lello (St Peters Western, QLD) on 2:10.74.
Day one will also feature both the men’s and women’s 100m freestyles – which will again feature some of the sport’s biggest names.
The women’s field featuring Olympic 200m champion and former world champion in Mollie O’Callaghan (St Peters Western) and the men’s would not be the 100m freestyle without the presence of sprint king Kyle Chalmers.
Joining O’Callaghan (52.67) will be:
WORLD 50m champion and Olympic and World Relay champion, Meg Harris (Rackley, QLD) 52.56;
PARIS relay gold medallist Olivia Wunsch (Carlile, NSW) and Alex Perkins (USC Spartans (53.53);
WORLD Relay champion Milla Jansen (St Peters Western) 53.78);
OLYMPIC and World Relay champion Shayna Jack(St Peters Western) 53.96;
Hannah Casey (Bond) and Abbey Webb (Cruiz, ACT) 53.83 and;
Jamie De Lutiis (Carlile) 53.96.
While Jack is listed as St Peters Western and will maintain her special swimmer-coach relationship with Dean Boxall, the 27-year-old has moved top Perth, WA.
She is training day-to-day under Western Australian Institute of Sport head coach, former British High Performance Head Coach at Loughborough University, Ian Hulme as she prepares for this year’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow – a group that includes fellow Paris Olympians Iona Anderson and Josh Yong.
The move aligns her training with her partner, Joel Rintala, who is part of the Australian Men’s Hockey Team based in WA, balancing her career with her personal life.
And joining Chalmers (Marion, SA) 47.17 will be:
OLYMPIC and WORLD Championship relay medallists and Flynn Southam (Bond) 47.69, Max Giuliani (Miami) 48.34 and Kai Taylor (St Peters) 48.36
SINGAPORE World Championship team member Ed Sommerville (Brisbane Grammar) 48.63;
DUAL Olympian Matt Temple (Marion, SA) 48.61 and;
RISING STARS Jamie Jack (St Peters Western) 48.63 and Marcus Da Silva (Cranbrook, NSW) 48.77.
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