Karl Stefanovic has gushed about Olympic champion Zac Stubblety-Cook's 'great rig' during an interview with the swimmer's girlfriend and mother - who revealed her son used to be terrified of water.
Stubblety-Cook won gold in the men's 200m breaststroke final on Thursday with an Olympic-record time of two minutes and 6.38 seconds.
No Australian had won the 200m breaststroke final at the Olympics since the previous Tokyo Games in 1964.
The Today show host couldn't help professing his admiration for Stubblety-Cook's toned physique while speaking to his mother Julie and girlfriend of five-and-a-half-years Ella Martinkovic on Friday morning.
Karl Stefanovic couldn't help telling Olympic champion Zac Stubblety-Cook's long-term girlfriend about the swimmer's 'great rig'
'Karl is saying he's got a great rig,' sports presenter Alex Cullen told the swimmer's girlfriend back in Brisbane.
'He has!' Stefanovic could be heard saying off camera.
'No complaints,' Ms Martinkovic responded, prompting roars of laughter back in the studio.
Ms Stubblety-Cook meanwhile said her son had come a long way from the youngster who used to scream when he put his face under the water and was too embarrassed to let his own mother see him swimming.
'In the last five years he's really, really knuckled down,' she said.
'He trains for hours and hours, he works three days a week and studies at Griffith University. He's a very busy boy.'
'Am I right in saying he was scared of the water when he was a kid?' Cullen asked.
'Absolutely,' his mother responded. 'I actually used to get told by the swim teachers, 'Go hide in the bushes so he can't see you.''
'No complaints' Ms Martinkovic responded when Stefanovic made clear his admiration
