Austin swimmers Michael Thorsheim and Nick Brehmer haven’t come this far to break under the pressure.

They won’t and its mostly because they aren’t feeling any pressure.

The duo will each swim in two events in the Class ‘A’ boys state swimming and diving meet in the University of Minnesota Aquatic Center in St. Paul Friday, but they aren’t going to sweat it out.

Brehmer, who is seeded ninth in the 200-yard freestyle and 10th in the 100-yard freestyle, knows where he stands in the grand scheme of things. He’d like to get the top-eight and swim in Saturday’s finals, but he’s not necessarily counting on it.

“The whole season you’re trying to get to state but we’re not the type of swimmers that are trying to win state,” said Brehmer, a sophomore. “Section finals was the important race for us. It would be fun if we both get to the finals on Saturday, but if I don’t make it, I won’t be crushed.”

Brehmer and Thorsheim are more focused on the excitement of swimming at the meet, which they are looking at as a reward for a season of hard work.

“I’ll probably be a little nervous like any other meet,” said Thorsheim, who is seeded ninth in the 200-yard individual medley and 18th in the 100-yard butterfly. “But I want enjoy this last state weekend and make the most of it. I don’t want to expect too much out of myself, because then I’d be more disappointed and I just want to enjoy it.”

While the duo is looking to have fun, they may also enjoy watching Fergus Falls swimmer Mike Hurley, who is in the 100-yard freestyle with qualifying time of 46.83 seconds and the 200-yard individual medley with a qualifying time of 1:54.47.

Hurley is a heavy favorite in both events as Brehmer’s qualifying and career-best time in the 100-yard freestyle is 49.93 seconds and Thorsheim’s qualifying and career-best time in the 200-yard individual medley is 2:05.37.

“I won’t be racing against him. I’ll be trying to catch up to him,” Brehmer said. “We’ve gone against some top swimmers from Century before and it’s not competing (against them), it’s just fun to watch. They take it really seriously.”

While Thorsheim is not looking for gold this weekend, it doesn’t mean he has not put in some hard work in the pool. He’s one of the hardest working swimmers in practice as he pushes his younger teammates to keep up with him.

His advice to be successful in the pool is simple.

“It’s developing a work ethic young and sticking with it,” he said. “You also have to have a good attitude and have a positive insight about how you’re going to do at meets.”

Brehmer has also been one of the Packers’ leaders throughout the year as he has given it his all.

“The hard part is mentally pushing yourself to swim the distance,” he said. “It’s also the drive, because if you just come in here and dread it every day, you won’t want to swim.”

Brehmer hopes the Packers can improve as a team when he returns to them next season as he sees Austin being a tough squad in the near future.

“We had a rough season this year, but all the young kids are really good and it’ll be a good team in a few years,” he said. “It’s a fun group of guys.”

Brehmer and Thorsheim each advanced to state in one individual event last season, but they didn’t make it to the finals.