Adam Peaty will seek to become the first man to claim four successive doubles after committing to the World Championships in Budapest in June.
The three-time Olympic champion won the 50 and 100m breaststroke at the 2015, 2017 and 2019 editions.
Only Katinka Hosszu has achieved that feat so far with the medley double from 2013 to 2019.
FINA raised eyebrows on Monday with their announcement the Hungarian capital would host an ‘”extraordinary” global meet from 18 June-3 July.
That could greatly impact Britain with swimmers now having to contend with three major meets in about eight weeks.
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Following worlds, they go to the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, (29 July-3 August) before moving on to the European Championships with the pool programme running from 11-17 August, followed by open water which runs through until 21.
British Swimming responded with a strongly-worded statement emphasising the demands being placed on athlete and coach welfare by the “eye-opening sequence of top-level competition opportunities.”
As well as potential history-making in Budapest, Peaty will look to defend – or in his words, attack – his 100br title in Birmingham and win his first over 50m after Cameron van der Burgh claimed the title at the last two Commonwealths.
Then on to the Foro Italico in the Italian capital, a year and a few months after he claimed the quadruple-quadruple in Budapest for a total of 16 golds in 16 races.
Awaiting in Rome will be Arno Kamminga and Nicolo Martinenghi, who won silver and bronze respectively behind Peaty in Tokyo.
Peaty, though, insists he will compete at the Duna Arena in Hungary while reviewing his schedule, including the ISL where he competes for London Roar.
In a statement released to Swimming World, Peaty said:
“I’m happy that the rest of the world gets an opportunity to race at world championship level, it’s really important.
“I believe this is a great option for world class swimmers to come together and put on a great show. It’s going to be amazing to be back in Budapest, I look back very fondly on my world record in the 50m in 2017 and some of the great swims we had there as a team as well.
“I am intending to swim Worlds but will need to review any other events, such as the ISL, given the new schedule.”
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All this follows the postponement of the Fukuoka worlds which were scheduled for May 2022 but which have now been pushed back to July 2023 because of the ongoing pandemic with the Doha edition switched to January 2024 to start Olympic year.
While that works for the likes of the United States and Brazil – who would otherwise have been looking at a blank calendar – it has altered the entire complexion of the summer for others.