Did you see Mitch Larkin win the 200m backstroke last night? Wow. He was impressive in the 100 too. So impressive that if you If you had to put money on one Australia swimmer winning an individual gold medal at the Rio Olympics, it'd definitely be Mitch.
But who is this superstar who looks like Clark Kent out of the pool and Superman when he's in it?
Well, if you watched the TV coverage of the Australian Swimming Championships this week, you'd have heard that Mitch won both the 100m and 200m backstroke at the world championships in Kazan, Russia, last year.
For these and other feats, he was named Male Swimmer of The Year by swimming's governing body FINA. Yep, swimmer of the year. No Australian had ever claimed that honour before. Not even Thorpey or Hackett.
He's as clean living as he is shaven.
But like we said above, who is Mitch Larkin? The Huffington Post Australia caught up with him recently to find out.
Ant: Hi Mitch, letās start with the very important question which we ask every sportsperson. Who would win a fight between a kangaroo and an emu?
Mitch: Iāll have to back the kangaroo. Theyāve got some pretty big legs on them and a powerful tail. Theyād be a bit quicker, a bit more agile.
Ant: You donāt think the emu could do some damage with its beak?
Mitch: I was just thinking which one would Iād rather not be attacked by.
Ant: Clever. So without being in the least disrespectful, most of my colleagues at work havenāt heard of you. Admittedly theyāre not really into sport, but stillā¦
Mitch: That doesnāt surprise me too much and to be honest, thatās how I like it. I grew up loving sport and swimming and I do it for that reason rather than to become famous or make a name for myself. I think certainly most swimmers know my name now, and young swimmers know my name which I find quite exciting.
Ant: Why backstroke?
Mitch: Iāll give you the back storyā¦
Ant: Ha ha, ābackā story.
Mitch: Ha! So I was a breaststroker as a pre-teen. Then I became a medley swimmer. I trained significantly for the 400m medley but I came third at the Olympic trials in 2012.
Ant: But that wasn't good enough because only the top two qualified for London.
Mitch: Right. I was pretty upset and disappointed but Iād also entered the 200m backstroke later that week for another swim. My coach Michael Bohl said āyouāre fit, it hasnāt been the main focus of your preparation but youāve done a lot of training and I think youāre ready to goā.
Ant: And you ended up winning the race at the trials.
Mitch: I did. I qualified for the Olympics in an event I hadnāt really trained for. After the trials I had about four months preparation for London. I ended up swimming a PB and making the final. For me that was a massive achievement because I didnāt expect a gold medal. I was only 18 at at the time and I havenāt looked back since.
Ant: Except that when you swim backstroke, you actually are looking backwards. So do you still swim medley at all?
Mitch: I do a bit of medley training to keep things exciting. Iād like to go back to swimming medleys one day but for now itās all about backstroke.
Ant: If Iām swimming backstroke laps at the pool, Iām always worried about slamming my hand into the wall and hurting it. Do you professional backstrokers worry about that?
Mitch: Not really, sorry. Outdoor pools can be a problem because the wind tends to blow the flags at five metres, which is where we count our strokes from. So you can end up a lot closer to the wall than you expect. But at a World Championships or an Olympics, the pools are always indoors so the flags stay in their place.
Ant: But surely you still slam your hand into the wall sometimes. This is important. Iāve wanted to ask a backstroker this for years.
Mitch: Sometimes I guess. But if you smash your hand onto the wall it means youāve had a good finish and youāve come in strong. We sort of practise those things a lot and itās second nature. I donāt even count the strokes, I just know where the wall is. When my legs and arms are screaming the then I know Iām pretty close to the wall
Ant: Fair enough. So thereās that famous photo of you after the 100m at the world championships where as the gold medallist, youāre pictured between the Frenchman Camille Lacourt and the American Matt Grevers. Those guys look huge. But youāre not actually that short are you?
Mitch: No, Lacourt is 6 foot 7. Grevers, who won gold in London, is 6 foot 8. When they posted those photos, everyone on social media was commenting about me saying āheās so short, heās tinyā but Iām not that short. Iām actually 6 foot 1. To be honest theyāre probably the two tallest guys in menās swimming.
He's hit the very big time.
Ant: So clearly heightās not an advantage
Mitch: Not necessarily. It has its benefits. Theyāre pretty powerful guys and both are over 100 kilos but as a result they donāt race 200 because theyāre a little too big and too heavy for that. Iām able to race both the 100m and 200m and Iāve developed a technique that suits me.
Ant: How different are the two races and which one hurts more? Im guessing the 200.
Mitch: Theyāre both very different and itās hard to say which one I prefer. I have a 200 background through my training. Youāve got to have a lot more respect for the pacing in that event and making sure you donāt go too hard. The 100 is a two lap dash. The 50 is quick as you can, controlled yet fast, then the last 50 is pretty much all youāve got left.
Ant: I donāt mean to pry but why the glasses?
Mitch: Iāve got pretty bad vision. I canāt see long distances very well. My eyes are getting worse being on the computer studying [heās studying engineering] and focusing on close things. I donāt wear contacts when I race.
Ant: A black lineās still a black line if itās blurry.
Mitch: Yeah but scoreboards are hard to read sometimes. I had absolute no idea what happened at the world championships. After my heat of the 100 I saw a time of 53.5 on the scoreboard and I was thinking that was a pretty good swim. It wasnāt till I got out that I saw it was a 52.5.
He's now the arch enemy of the international backstrokers.
Ant: You've improved so much in the last year or so. So hereās a quote from your coach Michael Bohl. This was late last year after you were named Swimmer of the Year:
āHis speed must continue to develop and his endurance must also continue to improve. There is also more work to be done in the gym and we are working very hard on improving his starts and turns.
Ant: So basically, youāve got nothing and everything needs improvement. Talk about a hard taskmaster! Or was he just playing mental games?
Mitch: Heās serious like that you know. After I won the 100 at the world championships, I came back to him with a big smile on my face and he said āthatās solidā.
Ant: āThatās solidā. Thatās all he said?
Mitch: Yeah I was like āare you kidding me? This is something you dream about as a young kid. This is the win weāve been really working towards and your answer is solidā? But in a way he was right. As soon as youāre complacent then people overtake you, and before you know it theyāve got better speed and better skills. There are always areas to improve. Heās a hard man to please but I just thank him for that.
Ant: If you win an Olympic gold medal, do you think he might give you a āgoodā rather than a āsolidā?
Mitch: I really hope so. Iām always aiming to get a āgoodā out of him rather than a āsolidā. If I end up winning with a slow time or if Iāve had a bad turn or something, heāll still focus on that. But after the worlds, we spent some time together and he said he was really proud and happy and couldnāt have expected anything better. So yeah, if I swim well at Rio, I might get a āgoodā.
There's no room for Bohl crap where this bloke is concerned.
Ant: In all seriousness, Bohl is renowned as a supreme motivator and a coach who really understands the individual behind each athlete. Is that your experience?
Mitch: Thatās one of the best things he does. While all coaches develop [training] sets, thereās no secret set that makes you a world champion. Itās the atmosphere he creates. Like you said, he really understands each individual athlete. He says every swimmer is a lock and the coach has the set of keys.
Ant: Does he have the keys to you?
Mitch: He likes to push my button at times, but I think so. Even this morning, he took time to speak to me and make sure Iām happy and that Iām handling the nerves and pressure.
Ant: Speaking of close relationships, are you willing to chat about a relationship you may or may not be having with your fellow world championship backstroke double gold medallist Emily Seebohm?
Mitch: Sure.
They both won the 100m and 200m in Russia... and each other's hearts.
Ant: Do you guys talk a lot about backstroke technique and stuff?
Mitch: No, not at all. We have so much in common but we donāt come home after training sessions and go āwhat times did you do?ā. We just ask how the session was and go āgood, yeahā and thatās pretty much it. Every now and then we do talk a little bit of swimming but thatās rare. Itās just good to know she supports me and we both know what each other are going through with the pressure.
Ant: The finals start at 10 pm in Rio and could go on after midnight. How are you plannning to deal with that?
Mitch: To be honest thatās the last thing on my mind. Youāve prepared for four years and when youāre walking out for a final, youāre not going to be looking at your phone or your watch and saying āoh itās dinner time or itās bed time, Iāve got better things to doā. Youāve just got to set your routines around when the race is on and adjust to that. Itās such a high intense exciting atmosphere at the Olympics. Weāll just try to sleep in later and warm up later. Itās no different to the adjustment to jetlag which we do a lot as Australians.
Ant: Seems like every second athlete is called Mitch or Mitchell lately. We had three in the Australian cricket team at the same time last summer. Who is your favourite athlete called Mitch?
Mitch: Iāll keep with the aquatic theme and say Matthew Mitcham even though heās just retired. When he dove that perfect 10 in Beijing we were all watching and just amazed at his ability.
Ant: And weāre amazed at yours. But how did this all start? Thereās often an interesting story about how champion swimmers got into the sport. For example Thorpey got into it as a way of dealing with his asthma. How about you?
Mitch: I grew up on the Sunshine Coast where we had a creek in our backyard and it was a five minute drive to the beach. There are lots of photos of me playing in the pool as a kid, I was always in the water.
Ant: Was the creek really muddy and horrible?
Mitch: No the water was quite clean and fresh. It had lots of eels, though.
Ant: Well we hope you swim faster than Eric The Eel at Rio, Mitch. Thanks for talking to The Huffington Post Australia.
Mitch: Thanks Ant.