The amazing record-breaking career of Adam Peaty as Team GB star cements his legacy as Britain’s GREATEST swimmer and the best breaststroker EVER following Tokyo Olympics triumph
It has gotten to the point now that it takes longer to take stock of Adam Peaty‘s record-breaking career, than it does for the 26-year-old to swim 100 metres.
The Uttoxeter-born superstar was streets ahead of his closest rivals as he romped to a second Olympic gold medal, five years on from his triumph in Brazil.
His time of 57.36 seconds was only his fifth-fastest time recorded, yet for Peaty, his Tokyo glory certainly ranks higher than his success at the Rio Games in 2016.
Adam Peaty cemented his legacy as Britain’s greatest ever swimmer after his gold in Tokyo
The 26-year-old became the first British swimmer to ever defend his Olympic title
‘I’m just so f***ing relieved,’ he told the BBC. He later told reporters: ‘I couldn’t give a s*** about my time. That race was mine to lose. Everyone knew it, I was trying not to think it.’
If Brazil was Peaty’s coming out party, Japan was the 26-year-old’s opportunity to cement his legacy as Britain’s greatest ever swimmer, and the greatest breaststroker in history.
The 26-year-old is a five-time world record breaker, three-time world champion and now a two-time Olympic champion in breaststroke alone, while his victory in Tokyo makes him the first and only British swimmer to defend his Olympic title.
Peaty has broken the 100m breaststroke record five times, has won eight world championship golds, 16 European golds and three Commonwealth golds during his illustrious career
In total, Peaty has won no fewer than eight gold medals in the world championships, 16 golds at the European championships, three Commonwealth golds and holds the 16 fastest times in breaststroke history.
At one point in his career, Peaty held the 20 fastest times in breaststroke history, until Arno Kamminga recorded a time of 57.92 seconds in April. The Dutchman is only the second man (behind Peaty) to clock in a time of under 58 seconds.
‘Going under 58 seconds is something special, I know that now,’ Kamminga said. ‘But going 57-low is next level and we all still have a long way to go to get there. What he does, 56 seconds, that is just insane.’
Peaty is undefeated in seven years and his rivals have had to watch his victories from afar
Despite his claims that ‘no one is invincible’, Peaty’s rivals must look at the Briton as a man impossible to beat. In fact, the 26-year-old has not lost a 100m breaststroke race in seven years – one of the longest winning streaks in swimming history.
Although Peaty’s medal haul cannot compete with the likes of Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, the Briton is just as dominant in his discipline as the two Olympic greats and is destined to be put in the same bracket as the American and Jamaican.
Peaty is nearing a decade of dominance in breaststroke and is planning on returning for Paris 2024, where he will surely arrive with more records added to his tally.
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