The first day of the British Selective Swimming Championships for Paris 2024 saw 29-year-old Adam Peaty rediscover his best performance since 2021. Nine years after breaking the world record for the first time at the London Aquatic Center, he registered 57.94 to secure his ticket for the next Olympic Games.
For Peaty, his performance was a culmination of his quest for self-reinvention after dealing with mental health problems over the past year: “I’m not completely back, I’m still one second above my record,” he said with some irony, adding: “I’ll always have that mentality, but I have a healthy approach to it. A few years ago, I would have been dissatisfied with the weather, despite having achieved the classification.”
This victory was not just another one for the champion swimmer of the 100 meters breaststroke in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, since it meant a reunion with the Olympic stage, after overcoming a tough battle against alcoholism and depression that forced him to abandon the sport for a while.
After dropping by a large margin the minimum required to swim in the Olympic Games in the 100-meter chest event, Peaty made very interesting statements with the press: “I am finding peace in the water, instead of anger. There’s a new version of myself that I’m really liking, and I think it’s a version that can go really well in the Olympic Games.”
Peaty had left the activity in 2022 due to a broken foot and continued away from the sport during 2023, as he wanted to focus on recovering his mental health. In February of this year he returned with a bronze medal at the World Championships in Doha and confessed the situation he went through: “We have overcome hell. I didn’t know which way to go and a lot of things got in the way, but now I wake up every day and enjoy my work. Who knows what the ending will be, but I’m having fun.”
George’s father now ranks number one of the season in the 100-meter chest, distance and style that he dominates with shocking numbers: of the 20 best world records of all time in the long pool, 17 are from Peaty.
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