There is a message on the big screen at Loughborough University which reads: ‘Welcome to the pool of dreams.’ But for the man celebrated on a giant banner behind the blocks, this place was also the scene of a nightmare.
It was on a Thursday morning last March that Adam Peaty reached breaking point in the pool, his goggles filling up with tears at the start of a routine swim. For the first time he can remember, he cut short his session and continued to cry in the shower. The triple Olympic champion then drove away from his training base not knowing whether he would ever return.
‘I had been trying to fight that inside voice every single day, but that day it got the best of me,’ says Peaty, sitting with Mail Sport where he had his breakdown 16 months ago. ‘I did 25 metres breaststroke, and I was like, “That’s it. Done. Don’t care. Put it to bed”.
‘There were tears in my eyes because I didn’t want it to end like that. But I am glad I stopped there and then because it just would have been the next week or the next month – and it would have delayed the whole process.’
That process saw Peaty take a six-month break from racing to deal with his demons. He had pressed the ‘self-destruct button’ and turned to alcohol after a turbulent 2022, when he broke his foot, lost his first 100m breaststroke race in eight years, then split from Eiri Munro, the mother of his son George. Since last autumn, however, Britain’s greatest-ever swimmer has been building himself back up – mentally and physically – with his third Olympics firmly in his thoughts.
Adam Peaty is prepared for his third Olympics just 16 months after hitting the ‘self-destruct’ button’
Peaty tells Mail Sport he was unsure whether he would return to swimming after breaking down at the Loughborough University training base
Adam Peaty claimed Team GB’s first gold at Tokyo 2020 and will be eyeing a repeat in Paris
‘It’s like climbing Everest,’ says the 29-year-old. ‘This time last year, I was at the bottom looking up, knowing what it would take and that I would fall through the ice at some points and get some snowstorms. But I am still standing and still smiling.’
The rebuilding of Peaty was given the title ‘project re-contracting’ by his coach Mel Marshall, who wanted to set a ‘contract’ between her swimmer and his ambitions. She gathered his inner circle last year to map out his path to Paris and there was a new addition to the team – Dr Steve Peters, the psychiatrist famed for his work with sports stars including Bradley Wiggins and Ronnie O’Sullivan.
‘He is a very unique, incredible man,’ explains Peaty, who jokes he will have Peters on ‘speed dial’ while he is in Paris. ‘In a world of noise, he denoises. He helps me find a way of working hard but also finding the balance and the switch.
‘I talk to him about these graphs in my head that I visualise – “I am here but I want to be here” – and he explains how to get there. He is very straight to the point. No BS. And that’s the way I like it. I don’t want to dance around the problem, I want to know what the problem is and how do we solve it. He is the best in the world at that.
‘For people who don’t think they have a belonging, like myself for so long, he has helped me understand there are two sides to me – the athlete and the human – and the decisions are very different.’
On the human side, Peaty has found peace outside the pool through his girlfriend Holly Ramsay, the daughter of celebrity chef Gordon. ‘I will always say that Holly is the only person really that has given me peace in my life, but also direction in the sense of where I want to be and who I truly want to be,’ says Peaty.
The Olympic great admitted turning to alcohol after a turbulent period in in 2022, which included his separation from his then girlfriend Eirianedd Munro after three years together
Peaty is now dating Holly Ramsay, daughter of TV chef Gordon, with the couple going public with their relationship in June 2023 after meeting on Strictly Come Dancing two years earlier
The swimming star has been working with Steve Peters, left, the psychiatrist famed for his work with sports stars including Ronnie O’Sullivan, right
Peaty said Holly Ramsay has helped to bring ‘peace’ to his life and direction of who he wants to be
Peaty has also revealed he has been inspired by the success of Holly’s famous father Gordon
‘She is very similar but also so different to me, which is very healthy in a relationship. She is absolutely incredible. She is on this journey with me too, helping me in areas that I can’t do alone.’
Peaty, who says he has been inspired by the success of Holly’s famous father, has a ‘H’ tattooed just below his neck. He has also a Christian cross and the words ‘Into the Light’ inked on his midriff – an acknowledgement of the other new relationship that has helped guide him through his troubles.
‘My religion gives me peace and direction and, for the first time in my life, helps me avoid the impulse,’ says Peaty, who reveals he has the Bible downloaded on his phone.
‘I realised that when I was at my lowest point that I didn’t really have a belonging other than sport. I didn’t really have a reason outside of sport to reach out to people or be part of something different. I think the stars aligned at that point.
‘People think church is a place for heavenly people, but it’s for people who are injured, people who are down, people who need help and seek help, and that’s exactly why I started going.
‘On a Sunday, I have got not training at all and I feel rubbish because I’ve got no blood flow, so it’s nice to go and get a different mental stimulus and push my thinking in a different way.’
Peaty’s different way of thinking is evident throughout our interview, his last before he heads to Team GB’s preparation camp in Reims, France. In our previous chats, he has been full of boasts and bravado, but here in a meeting room in Loughborough he is more measured and mindful.
‘I don’t want to get carried away with myself and say I am going to do something even though it’s in my head,’ he says. ‘I am not chasing world records, I’m not chasing golds like I was before. I am chasing how can I get to the blocks in the best possible shape and the best possible mindset.’
The 29-year-old has spoken of the importance of religion to his life and has a Christian cross tattoo and the words ‘Into the Light’ inked on his midriff
Peaty’s different way of thinking was evident in his latest interview with Mail Sport
On recent evidence, Peaty’s new, calmer approach is working. At the British Championships in April, he won the 100m breaststroke in 57.94sec. While still some way short of his untouchable world record of 56.88sec from 2019, it was his best time since his victory at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago and the fastest in the world this year.
Can he go even quicker in Paris? ‘There is no question about that,’ he says, briefly speaking like the ultra-confident Peaty of old. ‘I belong in that arena. I belong at the Olympic Games.
‘Knowing that gives me peace and a great sense of belonging. Once you’ve got the training to match that, which I know I have, you are set free. When I am calm and I am relaxed and I know what to do, that’s when I am my most deadly.’
Peaty’s date with destiny is next Sunday, meaning he could win Team GB’s first gold medal of the Games – just like he did at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. Victory in the 100m breaststroke at the Paris La Defense Arena would also make him only the second man to win the same Olympic swimming event three times in a row.
The other was American great Michael Phelps, who like Peaty has suffered from depression and been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). ‘I am not chasing anything that he’s done because it’s so different,’ he says about one of his childhood heroes.
Peaty has targeted producing a breaststroke ‘masterclass’ at Paris 2024 in front of his son, George
He believes he is capable of going quicker than his 100m breaststroke world record time of 56.88sec, which he set back in 2019
Victory in the event at Paris 2024 would see Peaty become just the second man to win the same Olympic swimming event three times in a row, after American great Michael Phelps
But if the chance to emulate Phelps is not motivation for Peaty, performing in front of his three-year-old son certainly is. ‘It will be just incredible to race in front of George,’ admits Peaty, who could also claim medals in the 4x100m men’s and mixed medley relays.
‘When I am out there, I get blurred vision because I have so much adrenaline. But I see a few things – GB flags, George’s blonde hair, Holly next to him, my mum. And in that moment, that’s all I care about.
‘I want to put on the best show for the people who are watching. I want to put on an excellent display of breaststroke, a masterclass – and I want to do it in front of my son.’
At previous Olympics, Peaty was so far ahead of the rest of the field that his only opponent was the clock. This time, though, he has a challenger in the form of China’s Qin Haiyang.
The 25-year-old made waves at last summer’s World Championships when, in Peaty’s absence, he won gold in the 50m, 100m and 200m breaststroke. Qin’s 100m personal best of 57.69sec, which he set last year, is also quicker than Peaty has swam in the last three years, but it remains slower than the Brit’s 14 fastest times.
‘I don’t see it as any different,’ says Peaty when asked about the threat he faces from Qin. ‘Obviously he did the 50, 100 and 200 last year, which was an incredible feat.
His main rival at Paris 2024 is Qin Haiyang, one of 23 Chinese swimmers controversially cleared to compete after testing positive for banned substance before the Tokyo Games
An independent investigation backed WADA’s handling of the case – but Peaty has been critical of how the scandal was kept secret
‘But just because he is doing what he has done, it doesn’t change my shift or focus, it doesn’t change my training because it’s about my race, it’s about what I do. I respect whoever I race. I know exactly how hard it is to go 57, but it doesn’t change what I am doing or my preparation.’
There is, though, a sub-plot when it comes to Qin. In April, it emerged that he was one of the 23 Chinese swimmers who tested positive for banned substance trimetazidine seven months before the Tokyo Games.
Those athletes were all controversially cleared to compete by the World Anti-Doping Agency, who accepted the China Anti-Doping Agency’s explanation that the failed tests were down to food contamination. Last week, an independent investigation backed WADA’s handling of the case – but Peaty has been critical of how the scandal was kept secret.
‘I was pretty devastated when I heard of it,’ he admits. ‘Thankfully, we have whistleblowers, but I was disappointed in the lack of transparency and the way that WADA handled the whole situation. We don’t want to lose public interest and have suspicions around people who are training hard.’
Peaty told me in 2020 that doping should be treated as criminal offence and cheats should face prison. ‘I still stand by that,’ he says. ‘It is still fraud. If you have an ADRV (anti-doping rule violation) or you have got something in your body, it’s not a genuine, 100 per cent performance. You are still cheating someone out of a performance, you are still cheating the people who are paying 900 euros per ticket to watch.
‘I am tested quite often. Sometimes they will come on a Sunday morning at 6am on my only day off. I am like, “OK, but is that being applied for the rest of the world?”. I wonder if there is another system that needs to be in place for more reliable results. That’s something we have to tackle over the next few years.’
Whether Peaty will still be swimming in the next few years, however, remains to be seen. He will be 33 by the time the Olympics roll into Los Angeles in 2028 and he is unsure whether he is willing to sacrifice another four years of his life.
The three-time Olympic champion is an ambassador for CUPRA, who produce electric cars
‘There are so many things up in the air that are relying on Paris, not in terms of a result, but how it makes me feel,’ he says. ‘You’ve got to be willing to pay the cost and sign the contract with yourself for another four years, and I’m like, “Would that be worth it? Would there be a different way of approaching it? Would you take a few years out and then go again?”.
‘I have no idea what I will do. It’s no longer a decision that is made by me. It’s a decision that is made by me and my family that are with me every day because they have to go through the ups and downs with me.’
And it is because of all of those recent up and downs that Peaty does not hesitate when asked whether winning gold on Sunday week would be the greatest achievement of his career.
‘Absolutely,’ he answers in a flash. ‘If I touch that wall and it’s, “First, Adam Peaty, Great Britain”, that will definitely be the best race of my life.’
Adam Peaty drives the CUPRA Born, the brand’s first fully electric performance-driven hatch. For more information visit www.cupraofficial.co.uk
