Adam Peaty Talks Paris 2024, Connecting With Michael Phelps And Being Inspired By McEvoy & The 50 Free Veterans
In the months after missing out on his third straight Olympic 100m breaststroke title by 0.02 in Paris, Adam Peaty has connected with Michael Phelps and drawn inspiration from Cam McEvoy.
The world record-holder appeared on the brink of becoming only the second man to win the same event at three straight Games only for Nicolo Martinenghi to come through with Peaty and Nic Fink sharing silver.
The Briton would later test positive for Covid although he’s quick to say that Martinenghi is a worthy winner and deserving of his victory.
Nicolo Martinenghi and Adam Peaty: Photo Courtesy: Giorgio Scala, Deepbluemedia
Since Paris, the six-time Olympic medallist has got engaged to partner Holly Ramsay and poured time and energy into AP Race, the brand he co-founded with Ed Baxter in 2019 which delivers clinics to swimmers of all ages and abilities.
There’ve been many questions about his future and whether he plans to continue until the Olympics in Los Angeles.
The possible introduction of the 50m in 2028 has been mooted but Peaty is in no rush to make such a decision.
Time and rest are key, says Peaty. He’s picked the brains of Phelps who retired after London 2012 only to return four years later at Rio 2016 where he won five golds and silver to end his career as the most-decorated Olympian with 28 medals.
Peaty told Swimming World:
“I caught up with Phelps in Vegas. He’s been there, retired, come back and been able to find a way.
“The reason he didn’t stop there was because his heart wasn’t ready to stop.
“I’m in a position where I don’t want to end my career in Paris but also experience tells me it’s going to be an incredibly hard thing to do for LA because of the amount of preparation it takes, the amount of choices you’ve got to make – selfish choices.
“So, it’s not something I can commit to right now but I think the best thing I can do is stay ready, stay fit, stay healthy so if that choice does come, then I’ll be ready and it won’t take me a very long time to get back to full flight and full fitness.”
Inspired By McEvoy And The 50 Free Veterans
The men’s 50 free final in Paris has also been a source of encouragement for Peaty where the three oldest men in the field filled the podium.
With McEvoy aged 30, Ben Proud 29 and Florent Manaudou the oldest in the final at 33, the trio had a combined age of 92.
“With that combined age and even when Phelps retired, he was still doing a 200IM or a 200 fly at 31-years-old, it’s possible even with the commercial aspects you’ve got to look after as well,” said Peaty.
“I think sport is getting older and we go back to the pain of regret is always greater than the pain of loss – would I regret this in 10 years not going for it?
“That’s something I’m still battling with. I’m sure that answer will find itself very soon because I’ve had so much time and rest to think now and hopefully that’ll continue.”
Ben Proud, Cam McEvoy, Florent Manaudou: Photo Courtesy: Deepbluemedia
McEvoy, Proud and Manaudou all prioritise sprint-specific training with greatly reduced volume.
McEvoy almost quit after Tokyo and took a long time away from the pool before returning to the water where he completely overhauled his training regime.
Peaty hasn’t “swum properly” since Paris and plans to take a long spell away from competition while maintaining a high level of fitness.
And it’s to McEvoy that he casts his sye.
“I draw a huge amount of inspiration and respect from Cam McEvoy: how he came back from the lows of wanting to retire and quitting for a certain amount of time.
“Then just doing things almost like a maverick, saying no to the traditional system that you’ve got to do a lot of metres to be successful.
“I followed his journey into Paris and what he did and I think he’s even said in an interview or on Instagram that some days he’ll wake up and not go to the pool because it’s not the right day to progress.”
The Way Ahead As Mel Marshall Heads To Australia
Whatever Peaty decides, two things are already certain. He won’t be training in Loughborough and there’ll be no Mel Marshall, who coached him from the age of 14 at City of Derby swimming club.
The pair swept all before them as they blazed a pioneering trail to Olympic, world, European and Commonwealth glory.
Marshall takes up a high-performance role in the new year with Swimming Australia at Griffith University Swim Club.
Peaty works best in a structure based on loyalty and trust, like the one he had with Marshall.
Mel Marshall, Adam Peaty, 2014 Commonwealth Games: Photo Courtesy: Mel Marshall
“She was like a general,” he said. “She’s still a general and I’m still just a soldier that’s told where to go, where to fight, where to rest and listen to those orders really.”
Conversations have been had about who would he would work with and Peaty has “some ideas of who that (coach) is and where I’d train and how that would work going forward.”
He plans to mainly base himself in the English midlands while also spending time in London and Saudi Arabia, to where AP Race has expanded.
“That may change, it may not, I don’t want to give too much away right now where I’m going to be training.
“But I’ve had the conversations to make sure that if I did want to return and stay ready, that would consist of swimming and gym work and pretty much a full programme eventually.
“But you’ve got to be at peace with it and you’ve got to make sure you’re rested before you go on this – like – crusade again.”
The Mixed Emotions Of Paris Silver
Peaty turns 30 three days after Christmas, leaving behind his twenties which have encompassed glorious highs in the pool and the birth of son George but also times of darkness, depression and burnout.
His journey back started on the World Cup tour in October 2023 and at the Olympic trials in April this year, Peaty went inside 58 seconds for the 21st time in his career in 57.94.
He remains the only man to do so in 2024 with Qin Haiyang second fastest with 58.24 at the Chinese National Championships.
Peaty has mixed emotions given the dark place he’d returned from only to miss the Olympic title by such a tiny margin.
Adam Peaty: Photo courtesy: Giorgio Scala/Deepbluemedia
“I did the best with the cards that I was dealt and yes, it was incredibly close but say I didn’t have covid it doesn’t mean I would have won that race.
“There are too many variables and I want to make it very clear that Nicolo deserved to win that.
“So yes, there are mixed emotions of what went right, what went wrong, I’ve still got things I’ve got to flatten out and almost create an underline if I was going to go for LA.
“At the same time, I try and turn everything into a positive that this journey is going to be full of ups and downs and if you can’t take the downs, you don’t deserve the ups.
“Those ups will come if I decide to go for LA, I’m sure, but also there’ll be a lot more downs but that’s just about being an athlete.
“You see these amazing athletes in other sports like tennis, football, or any other Olympic sport that no athlete goes a period without losing and it’s how you navigate that loss to hopefully one day turn it back into a win.”
