Tokyo (AFP)

From dilettantism to obsession: by eyeing the performances of his friend Craig Benson at the London Olympics in 2012, Adam Peaty decided to devote himself body and soul to swimming until he dominated the world breaststroke in just a few years.

In the summer of 2012, when the young Adam Peaty, 17 at the time, was preparing to celebrate his diploma (GCSEs in the British school system) with his friends, the London Games were in full swing.

"I was at a crossroads in my life, and I decided to take swimming a lot more seriously," Peaty recalls in an interview with The Times before leaving for the Tokyo Games.

“I had just passed my GCSEs and was about to have a binge with my buddies, when I heard that Craig Benson, an old friend from my junior years, had just qualified for the semi-finals in the London Games, ”continues the 26-year-old brewer.

“At that point, I knew I wouldn't be happy if I didn't give it my all for swimming,” Peaty sums up.

"I think I received a donation and I do not want to spoil it," insisted the Briton Monday morning, now double Olympic champion in the 100m breaststroke after his victory in 57 sec 37.

"What I do every day, what I train three times a day for, what I give my all for, is this race. The 99.9% of the time we spend in the shadows, it is for these 0.01% that we go into the light, "he added.

The results did not take long to arrive: at the Commonwealth Games in July 2014 in Glasgow, he broke into broad daylight by dominating the 2012 Olympic champion in the 100m breaststroke, the South African Cameron van der Burgh.

- In the wake of Kitajima -

The breaststroke dominating machine is on full swing.

He seized the world record in April 2015 at the British Championships (57.92) by becoming the first man under 58 seconds.

And above all, he shines at the Rio Games with two world records, one in the playoffs (57.55) and one in the final (57.13).

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He currently holds the 17 best times of all time in the 100m breaststroke and fell below 57 seconds for the first time at the 2019 Worlds in Gwangju, with a world record lowered to 56 sec 88. A benchmark mark to which he attacked in vain in Tokyo, where the gold which stretched out its arms to the eight-time world champion in long course did not escape him, however.

Peaty's performances are inseparable from Mel Marshall, her mentor and trainer, former high-level swimmer, vice-world champion in the 4x200m freestyle in 2001. It was she who launched the Briton in draft 56 (100m breaststroke in less than 57 sec).

Mission accomplished two years ago.

With his perfect physique for breaststroke - large hands, large feet and great flexibility of the knees and ankles - allowing all movements, Peaty can hope to break down new chronometric barriers, when he will not yet be 30 years old in Paris. at the Olympics-2024.

History to make roar once again the lion tattooed on his impressive left bicep, just above a Poseidon added in 2018, and to get closer to the legend of the breaststroke, the Japanese Kosuke Kitajima, quadruple Olympic champion (100 and 200 m breaststroke in 2004 and 2008).

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