Swimming

Comeback King Adam Peaty Rips 58.53 100 Breast Prelim Swim At British Olympic Trials

April 2, 2024

2024 BRITISH SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS (OLYMPIC TRIALS)

Tuesday, April 2nd – Sunday, April 7th
Prelims at 10am local (5am ET), Finals at 7pm local (2pm ET)
London Aquatics Centre
LCM (50m)
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Livestream: Channel 4 Sport

This morning we saw the day-one heats unfold at the 2024 British Swimming Championships. The meet represents the sole opportunity for swimmers to clock qualification times in the hopes of making the nation’s Olympic team for Paris.

Finishing off this morning’s prelims was the men’s 100m breaststroke where we saw world record holder Adam Peaty post a big-time swim to put not only British swimmers but also competitors worldwide on notice.

29-year-old Peaty touched in a quick time of 58.53 to easily land lane 4 for tonight’s final. He represented the only racer of the heats to get under the minute barrier. The next-closest swimmer was Greg Butler who notched 1:00.29.

Peaty opened in 27.09 and closed in 31.44 to stake his claim on this event. The Aquatics GB (formerly British Swimming)-mandated selection standard sits at 59.45 so the Olympic champion is already well beneath that.

His 58.53 prelim swim represents the Loughborough ace’s fastest performance in 12 months, surpassing the 58.60 he logged in the semi-finals of the event at this year’s World Championships. There in Doha, Peaty ultimately settled for bronze in 59.10.

After this morning’s race, Peaty relayed how his performance is encouraging for what he wants to do in tonight’s final.

“Honestly it was the easiest swim I’ve done in a long time,” he said in his on-deck interview. “It might be because my mustache is gone (laughs).

“Gives me a lot of hope for tonight. The speed feels really good. Now it’s just about matching that with the emotion which is my strength.”

Indeed this performance bodes well for Peaty’s comeback journey after having withdrawn from last year’s British Championships due to mental health reasons.

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Peaty now ranks as the #1 men’s 100m breaststroke in the world for 2024 and #2 on the season with only China’s dynamo Qin Haiyang ranked ahead of him.