Why new OBE recipient Adam Peaty is all in again
The triple Olympic champion and world record holder in the 50m and 100m breaststroke has had a challenging few years, his competitive spark dimming after Tokyo 2020, but - as he returns to competition at the World Swimming Championships (25m) in Melbourne - the Brit's fire is reignited.
Swimming
‘Father’ is the first word used on Adam Peaty’s Instagram bio. ‘Triple Olympic champion’ is the next descriptive text, alluding to the swimmer’s two men's 100m breaststroke titles and 4x100m mixed medley gold.
Prior to 11 September 2020, nothing would have preceded the swimming accolades but the birth of Peaty’s son George changed all that.
“You will forever be my inspiration, motivation, happiness, love and joy,” posted Peaty on Instagram in October 2021. “Everyday you grow, I grow with you.”
Peaty, who is competing at FINA's World Swimming Championships (25m) in Melbourne, Australia, regularly shares loving posts about his son.
But that’s not to say things weren’t challenging for the 27-year-old in the lead-up to the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Summer Games, which took place in 2021.
With the extension of the Olympic cycle due to the COVID pandemic and the necessity of adapting training to a home-based environment, particularly challenging when pools across the United Kingdom were closed, Peaty had to dig deep to give even more of himself to the sport he loved, but without the end result of the competition he thrived on.
“Leaving for the Olympics today!” he posted on 10 July 2021. “The last 18 months have been the most challenging I have ever been through with having my first child, moving house and then all the Covid sh** that hit us too, but we always found a way and will continue to pioneer even in the face of adversity.”
On hitting the wall in his last race in Tokyo, and having become the first British swimmer to defend an Olympic title – the 100m at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, the third was the mixed medley in Japan – all Peaty could think was, “I’m done”.
Adam Peaty: Dancing and OBE
After years of focusing 100% on swimming, post Tokyo, Peaty took his first ever step back from the sport he’d dominated since 2014, promising himself a year off.
Time was spent with his son, his friends and family, taking a first holiday in years, and taking himself right out of his comfort zone by participating in the live UK TV dance competition on the BBC, Strictly Come Dancing.
In late December 2021, after being knocked out of the competition after a dance off, Peaty was surprised by his reaction.
“I didn’t know how much it meant to me until I got a bit emotional after my dance off," he said. "However, I don’t think it was the dancing that pushed me over the edge, but the two years of the constant challenge with myself combined with the energy to win the Olympics and becoming a father at the same time. My emotions are one of my strongest attributes and I’m not ashamed to show that I’m human.”
Peaty then posted a photo of him in the pool with the caption, “Back to the day job", but not before rounding out the year coming third to tennis player Emma Raducanu and diver Tom Daley at the prestigious BBC Sport’s Personality of the Year awards and being nominated for an OBE in the New Year Honours.
"One of the great things about the Honours List is that we celebrate that commitment and dedication, no matter what it is," he said.
"You've excelled at your particular area or helped a lot of people - and it just makes you feel an immense pride."
Not bad for most but Peaty concluded the year with: “2021 I didn’t like you too much but you’ve made me stronger, wiser and definitely more grateful for life going into 2022.”
Adam Peaty: Return and injury
March saw a first competitive return to the pool for Peaty at the FFN Golden Tour stop in Marseille, but his focus was at the FINA World Championships Budapest 2022 in Hungary in June. However, ten weeks before the competition, Peaty suffered his first ever swimming injury, breaking his foot in a training session in the gym.
The World Championships was out and Peaty would have to watch others claim his 50m and 100m breaststroke titles and the men's 4x100m medley relay gold he won in 2019 in Gwangju, Republic of Korea.
Nevertheless, Peaty used it as a learning experience, using the time "to reflect on what the sport means to me and what it feels like to watch someone else win a race I should be in”.
Turns out he wasn’t a fan.
Adam Peaty: Commonwealth shock
The next lesson was more of a bitter pill. At his home Commonwealth Games, in Birmingham, just an hour from where he grew up in Uttoxeter, Peaty suffered his first 100m breaststroke defeat since 2014. Team-mate James Wilby grabbed the gold while Peaty finished fourth.
“Sometimes it doesn't go to plan,” Peaty told BBC Sport afterwards. “That's a lack of training, lack of racing… it is what it is. I'm a fighter and sometimes you have got to have these moments to keep fighting.”
Fourteen hours later, Peaty took to the pool for the 50m to see for himself more than anybody else if that desire was still there.
Unequivocally, yes.
Peaty won the only title missing from his collection, the 50m breaststroke, slapping the water in triumph, his lion tattoo rippling on his bicep, accompanied by a thunderous roar from the crowd.
“It took a whole lot of courage and balls to come back and fight for the 50m,” Peaty said afterwards. “I could’ve just easily let life pass me by and gone home.
“The love for the sport just hasn’t been the same the past 2 years; mainly down to burn out and fatigue. I feel a spark and a hunger inside me that I haven’t felt in a long time.”
“I’m ready to take a proper rest, let my mind and body heal then come back stronger than I ever have in September,” Peaty posted, an omen for his competitors. “See you next season,” he signed off.
PODCAST: Winning mentality with Adam Peaty and Katinka Hosszu
Adam Peaty: Focus on the 2022 short-course Worlds
That season is now upon us and Peaty heads to the short-course World Championships in Melbourne, Australia to test himself in the 50m, 100m, and 200m disciplines.
Peaty hasn’t competed in the short-course worlds since Doha 2014, where he won three silver medals, usually prioritising the long-course tournament in which he is an eight-time gold medallist.
But the competition, the first since the Commonwealth Games, will give him the opportunity to measure up against those he may be up against in his quest to achieve more Olympic glory come Paris 2024.
A couple of recent posts give an indication of Peaty’s form heading into the championships.
"Nearing the end of a really tough 3 months work. Over 30 hours a week, 6 days a week, constantly pushing and searching for progression."
And a few weeks before that:
“Both my body & mind have been hit hard this week, very tough and extremely demanding but it’s great to be working at a level I haven’t been at in a long time."
Ominous words for Peaty's competitors.
Peaty’s first qualifying race is on 14 December in the men’s 100m breaststroke heats. For the full FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) schedule, click here.