Olympic champion Cameron van der Burgh has two addictions - racing and coffee.Early in our interview at a Pretoria coffee shop this week he spoke about getting a brewing machine to take on his lengthy pre-Games training stint in Europe, the US and Brazil. He leaves on Wednesday.The best country for a cup is Italy, said 28-year-old Van der Burgh. "I've never had a bad cup of coffee there."But preparing for his daily caffeine fix is nothing compared to the battle plan he's drawn up to try keep his 100m breaststroke crown at the Rio Games from August 6-21.South Africans have won 23 Olympic gold medals since the 1908 London Games; none has defended his or her title.Van der Burgh will be South Africa's first individual star to try - on the second night of Rio 2016 - since breaststroke queen Penny Heyns at Sydney 2000.Van der Burgh has calculated he will have to go as much as a second faster than he's been before. "[I need] 57.8sec to 57-mid. That's what we are planning for. It's going to be fast. For me it's about improving on my weaknesses."Englishman Adam Peaty's world record is 57.92.Van der Burgh is the world's fastest over the first lap of the 100m race, and now he wants to get his second 50m up to speed.At the 2015 world championships he was the fastest of the field over the first 50m in 26.79.But his second lap of 31.80 was only the sixth fastest, behind champion Peaty (31.32) and Scotland's Ross Murdoch (31.14).Van der Burgh lost to Peaty by 0.07sec, his 58.59 being his second-fastest effort after the 58.46 he produced at London 2012.Van der Burgh, who has not won the 100m breaststroke at a major gala since then, loves competing, even if he loses."For me racing is like a drug, the feeling of being in the best physical condition, you're tapered, the adrenaline's pumping through your veins, the pressure's on, the crowd's going crazy, it's such an amazing feeling."It's such a drug, it's so addictive."[Some] people say they feel so nervous, so unsure. That's because they don't have confidence in their training."Your training needs to be perfect. You feel like you're invincible, you feel like you are 5cm taller than everybody else. I live for that week."Van der Burgh added the 200m breaststroke to his repertoire two years ago.While he believes he can make the final in the longer event in Rio, he says the real boon of the 200m is his improved endurance, particularly in the second half of the 100m."You can never stop learning," said Van der Burgh, who early in his career studied, among others, Japan's Kosuke Kitajima, the only man in history to have won back-to-back Olympic 100m breaststroke titles."Now I've watched a lot of Adam, seen what he's done better. Ross Murdoch. I've watched to see what these guys are doing better than me ..."They are faster in the last 25m, and it's more about being efficient with the stroke, and being efficient with your oxygen intake."Van der Burgh the swimmer is evolving all the time, but the person behind the success is still the same, exuding optimism and flashing an almost permanent smile.Four years ago his confidence, and detailed battle plan, made me realise he would be a strong contender for gold in London 2012. Nothing has changed for Rio.sports@timesmedia.co.za..