Peaty adapting to unfamiliar circumstances ahead of Paris 2024

By Tom Harle

Adam Peaty concedes that life without competitive swimming is ‘strange’ but hasn’t stopped preparing to perform in Paris.

Mental health issues have led the triple Olympic champion to take an indefinite break from racing and skip July’s World Championships in Japan.

Peaty is still training, anything from three to seven times each week, as well as heading out for long bike rides and runs near his Midlands base.

“The days are quite strange, actually,” said Peaty, an ambassador for Bridgestone, who are proud to be a Worldwide Olympic and Paralympic Partner through 2024 and are launching the new ‘Prepare to Perform’ campaign.

“I enjoy being outside - my brain works best when I’m moving. That’s where I belong, doing stuff that makes me feel good.

“We’ve got some amazing National Parks, I’ll go out there for a few hours and come back as a different person. I love it.

“I’m enjoying having a normal life and doing what I need to do, not always focusing on the one and two percenters.

“I don’t really know what I’m doing at the moment, but I’m doing a lot of things.”

It’s fair to say Peaty won’t be making time to watch next month’s World Championships in Fukuoka.

“I don’t think there’s anything productive that could come out of it,” he said. “I’ll look back at the performances and I’ll keep one eye open.

“There’s a Chinese guy (Qin Haiyang) who just went 57.9(3) - that’s pretty good, very good. The world is getting faster on the breaststroke but it’s not as consistent.

“This is about rest and being away from the sport. I haven’t been part of the World Championship scene for two years now.

“We’ll start the campaign again in September or October.”

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Bridgestone celebrates hard work and dedication of athletes on their journey to the Games, supporting them to prepare to perform on their journey towards Paris 2024.

Peaty’s rise to the summit of swimming and ownership of 19 of the 22 fastest 100m breaststroke times in history has been inextricably linked with Mel Marshall.

Marshall has guided the 28-year-old since his junior days and this period in Peaty’s career marks a new chapter in one of the most famous coaching partnerships in British sport.

“We’ve both grown a lot,” said Peaty.

“It’s a very different landscape for both of us. It’s helped us to be more together, more honest and realistic.

“We’ll look at the honest truths now and not be blindsided by things that don’t matter. Mel has a lot of passion for the sport and wants me to be the best athlete I can be.”

Olympians don’t rely on luck. Instead, they rely on dedication, gruelling hard work and years of preparation. Just like Bridgestone don’t take chances with safety, innovation or performance.

In Paris, Peaty can become the second man after Michael Phelps and fourth swimmer after Katie Ledecky and Dawn Fraser to win three successive Olympic titles in the same event.

Despite it all, it still seems that nothing less than gold will do for Peaty.

“Success would be defending the Olympic title and getting the gold medal,” he said, “but doing it in a happy and balanced way, loving my sport, feeling the adrenaline and walking out into an amazing crowd.

“I don’t really remember the medals going around my neck, I remember the journey to get there. I want a nice journey where it’s hard, but I’m enjoying it.”

Bridgestone is proud to be a Worldwide Olympic and Paralympic Partner through to 2024. Adam Peaty and Charlotte Worthington are exciting to be Bridgestone UK ambassadors and launch the Prepare to Perform campaign. Bridgestone celebrates hard work and dedication of athletes on their journey to the Games, supporting them to prepare to perform on their journey towards Paris 2024.