When Adam Peaty of the UK powered home to win the finals of the men’s 100m breaststroke final in Rio, he broke his own record that he set in the semi-finals the previous night. His record-breaking performance broke the drought for UK men, as he is the first UK male swimmer to take home a gold medal in 28 years. The last time a UK male swimmer stood on the podium to accept a gold medal for the UK was back in Seoul in 1988 when Adrian Moorhouse won the same event.
History's record breaker
Peaty’s old rival, South Africa’s Cameron van der Burgh who he beat by 0.32 seconds in the2014 Commonwealth Gamesin Glasgow, Scotland, took the silver a full 1.56 seconds behind the new Olympic champion.
The BBC’s Tom Fordyce described this performance as “one of the finest displays by a British athlete in Olympic history.” The extraordinary 21-year-old swimmer has maintained a string of successes in the last year and in the 2015 world trials when he set the world record of 57.92 for the men’s 100m breaststroke he became the first man in history to compete in less than 58 seconds. Incredibly, he broke that record in the Rio heats and then broke it again in the finals with a finishing time of 57.13seconds.
Peaty’s fantastic win had the whole of the UK team excited. Tweets reflect the pride and joy of the Brits.
The whole of GB tower here in the village erupted when @adam_peaty won. What a brilliant feeling
— Greg Rutherford (@GregJRutherford) August 8, 2016
Crying my eyes out ! Simply wow @adam_peaty !!!
— Becky Adlington (@BeckAdlington) August 8, 2016
Take a bow @adam_peaty you beauty. In a class of his own!!!!
— Adam Gemili (@Adam_Gemili) August 8, 2016
Peaty was afraid of water
To place more perspective on his win, the BBC reported that the young champion started out his life as a young boy who was “afraid of water.” It takes a lot of courage and mental discipline to win at the Olympics, and this young man has come a very long way in overcoming those fears.
The UK surely will take Peaty to their hearts and hold him up as a role model to their nation for years to come.
Adam was born in Uttoxeter,Staffordshire, in the UK and attended Painsley Catholic CollegeandDerby College. He lives at home with his parents, and one of greatest admirers is his grandmother Mavis.
My Grandson has done it 👏👏🏊🏻🏊🏻👍@adam_peaty @britishswimming @adam_peaty
— Mavis (@Mavise42Mavis) August 8, 2016
Uttoxeter News reported in 2014 that Adam trains in nine two-hour sessions every week and follows this up with five one hour gym sessions.
He told the Derby Telegraph that his Swimming heroes are Andrew Wills and Michael Jamieson and he credits his coach Melanie Marshall with being the most influential person in his life. His main ambition was to win an Olympicgold medal and he reached this ambition with resounding success in his debut Olympic performance in Rio.
