Stubblety-Cook Hits 3rd Fastest 200 Breast In History For OLY Record And Gold

2020 TOKYO SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

• When: Pool swimming: Saturday, July 24 – Sunday, August 1, 2021
  • Open Water swimming: Wednesday, August 4 – Thursday, August 5, 2021
• Where: Olympic Aquatics Centre / Tokyo, Japan
• Heats: 7 PM / Semifinals & Finals: 10:30 AM (Local time)
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Zac Stubblety-Cook has collected his first-ever Olympic gold medal in the men’s 200 breaststroke, topping the field with a 2:06.38 Olympic record. Stubblety-Cook became the first-ever man to crack 2:27 at an Olympiad, taking the record from Japan’s Ippei Watanabe who swam a 2:07.22 during the semi-finals of the Rio 2016 Games.

Split Comparison

While Stubblety-Cook notched a new Olympic record, he was a little bit slower than Russian swimmer Anton Chupkov‘s 2:06.12 world record from the 2019 World Championships. Stubblety-Cook also just missed out on lowering his own Australian record from earlier this year at Olympic Trials which sits at a 2:06.28. His 2 2:06s from 2021 mark the 2nd and 3rd fastest swim in the history of the event behind Chupkov’s world record.

All-time Performances In The Men’s 200 Breaststroke

1. Anton Chupkov (RUS) – 2:06.13
2. Zac Stubblety-Cook (AUS) – 2:06.28
3. Zac Stubblety-Cook (AUS) – 2:06.38
4. Shoma Sato (JPN) – 2:06.40
5. Matthew Wilson (AUS) / Ippei Watanabe (AUS) – 2:06.67
7. Matthew Wilson (AUS) – 2:06.68
8. Ippei Watanabe (JPN) – 2:06.73
9. Shoma Sato (JPN) – 2:06.74
10. Shoma Sato (JPN) – 2:06.78

Notably, of all 5 swimmers who have top 10 performances in the 200 breaststroke, Stubblety-Cook is the only man who made it onto the podium in Tokyo. Anton Chupkov was the closest to finsihing within the top 3, hitting a 2:07.24 for 4th place. Shoma Sato and Matthew Wilson on the other hand actually didn’t even qualify for the final, hitting a 2:09.04 for 10th and a 2:10.10 2 for 15th during the semis. Ippei Watanabe was even further away from the Olympic final, having failed to qualify for the Games due to a third place finish to Ryuya Mura and Shoma Sato at Japanese Trials.

Arno Kamminga finished 2nd to Stubblety-Cook in the Olympic final with a 2:07.01 swim, trailing his own PB and Dutch record of 2:06.85. Matti Mattsson of Finland had a major best time of 2:07.13 to take Olympic bronze. His swim was an improvement upon the 2:08.26 national record he set just weeks ago at the 2021 European Swimming Championships.

Kamminga’s 2:06.85 PB from December 2020 makes him the 6th fastest performer in history while Mattsson is now the 8th fastest man on record.

All-time Performers In The Men’s 200 Breaststroke

1. Anton Chupkov (RUS) – 2:06.13
2. Zac Stubblety-Cook (AUS) – 2:06.28
3. Shoma Sato (JPN) – 2:06.40
4. Matthew Wilson (AUS) / Ippei Watanabe (AUS) – 2:06.67
6. Arno Kamminga (NED) – 2:06.85
7. Akihiro Yamaguchi (JPN) – 2:07.01
8. Matti Mattson (FIN) – 2:07.13