Swimmer Jack Harvey has felt lighter over the past two months after the weight of pressure to qualify for the Olympic Games was lifted from his shoulders.

Harvey, like his sister Emma, left it late to secure a place in Paris, only qualifying in London at the end of May, and he is entering heat one of the 100 metres backstroke (Sunday, 6.43am Bermuda time) in top form, both physically and mentally.

“I couldn’t be better and I’m so excited,” Harvey said.

“It’s been a build up for months and even years and it’s all feeling really real right now and it has hit me that we are at the Olympics.

“The [Olympic] Village exceeded all my expectations and I feel like I’m surrounded by some of the best athletes in the world.

“Bermuda has only eight athletes here and that is big for us, but you see the US building and the Australia building and you see these amazing athletes and you truly realise that you are part of a very small group of people who have made the Olympics and competed for their country at the highest level. I didn’t fully realise that until I got here.”

Harvey stands a good chance of winning the opening heat of his event with his qualifying time off 55.19sec nearly two seconds faster than that of his closest competitor, Zackary Gresham, of Grenada, and he feels he is equipped to cope with the nerves .

“My preparation has been going good,” Harvey said.

“I’m feeling well in the water and I feel like I’m ready to swim a good race so I just have to stay focused, do the right things and I think I can swim really fast.

“I’ve walked out at Pan Ams, Commonwealth Games and the World Championships, when there is also thousands of people, but the Olympics is a whole different atmosphere.

“I think there is about 18,000 seats in the swimming venue, and you can think about it all day but you can never know until you actually experience it, you can never prepare for it, but just thinking about it and talking about it puts a smile on my face.”

The Olympics is the biggest sports show in the world and Harvey is confident the experience will bring out the best in him and propel him into the next four years.

“It’s the Olympics, it’s always going to be flashy and it’s always going to be a big show,” Harvey said.

“But a personal best is my goal. I just want to go in there, swim as fast as I possibly can and where other people finish is out of my control and everything else will fall into my place.

“My main goal is to finish feeling like I am a better swimmer than I was two weeks ago with the experience of competing in the Olympics and seeing the best people in my world. That will set me up for a successful season next year and a better Olympic cycle in general.”

There are probably no more prouder parents in Paris this week than the Harveys, with their son and daughter both joining the select band of Bermuda Olympians, and Jack thinks that they will probably both be more nervous than him

“They can’t control what we do so it’s almost worse for them,” Harvey said.

“The whole qualification process was a roller-coaster for them but they have been just as important in this journey as I have and I can’t thank them enough.

“I am sure they are nervous but I know they are excited and I am excited to see them after I’ve finished competing.”