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Adam Peaty is so dominant he's now just swimming for records, says Mark Spitz

Medallion man: Adam Peaty: Getty Images
Medallion man: Adam Peaty: Getty Images

After three world records were broken on an exhilarating night at the Duna Arena, there was an hour so where Adam Peaty was not the man on everyone’s mind.

But that is likely to change tonight here in Budapest, when 12,000 partisan Hungarians and a smattering of British support will be baying for Peaty to add a third successive world record of his own in the 50m breaststroke final.

Britain’s 22-year-old will be in the pool for a likely 25 seconds — Peaty dipped below the 26-second barrier for the first time in the semi-finals — while up in the TV gantry, the great Mark Spitz will be marvelling at his one-length feats.

The 67-year-old American won seven golds at the 1972 Munich Olympics across butterfly and freestyle, breaking world records in each event.

Yet Spitz has seen enough in Peaty’s breaststroke at the Rio Games and at the Duna Arena to offer a glimpse into why the Englishman is so ahead of the pack in his discipline.

“He’s incredible and had almost a full body length with 12 metres to go. I mean ‘oh man’, that was only in the preliminaries,” Spitz told Standard Sport.

“He is swimming for records now and that is hard to do. But somewhere in somebody’s career they decide that they are swimming just for times, especially when they are trained and rested like Peaty.”

According to Spitz, the Briton has a clear advantage straight off the blocks after world swimming ratified a rule in 2014 where a single dolphin kick is allowed at each start or turn.

“In the first three strokes he is now in front,” added Spitz, whose 1972 medal record was eclipsed by Michael Phelps’s eight golds at the Beijing Olympics. “He knows that, his rivals know and he just thrives on that.”

Peaty’s dominance is rubber-stamped as soon as he hits his stride, thanks to rock-like technique. Spitz said: “A lot of breaststrokers when they come up for their breath, it looks like their heads are going up and down but there is motion to the left and right.

Dominant: Mark Spitz says Adam Peaty is in a class of his own (Getty Images for Laureus)
Dominant: Mark Spitz says Adam Peaty is in a class of his own (Getty Images for Laureus)

“He is a swimmer that doesn’t have that. There is less rocking motion which effects the swimmer’s speed.”

To put his sub-56-second quest over 100m into context, his mission would pace him alongside Spitz’s butterfly when the great American set his first world record 50 years ago.

Over the course of two 50m swims in one day yesterday, he shaved a further 0.47secs off the mark he set at the 2015 world championships.

Spitz, who retired at Peaty’s age after the Munich Games, revels in Peaty’s outlook following his golden debut in Rio.

Spitz said: “It’s hard coming from the Olympics. For some reason everyone goes into hybernation and he obviously hasn’t held back.”

Seven swimmers posted 26-second times heading into the final.

Meanwhile, there will be a deafening crescendo ahead of Peaty’s tilt when Hungary’s sporting superstar Katinka Hosszu goes for another individual freestyle title.