Adam Peaty & Mel Marshall: The Three-Peat, Rejecting The Pain Of Regret & “Going Back Home” To The Biggest Stage Of All

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Adam Peaty: Photo Courtesy: Aaron Okayama, Speedo

Adam Peaty & Mel Marshall: The Three-Peat, Rejecting The Pain Of Regret & ‘Going Back Home’ To The Biggest Stage Of All

Adam Peaty will join Michael Phelps in an exclusive two-man club if he wins the 100m breaststroke in Paris to secure the three-peat.

The 23-time Olympic champion won three straight titles in the 100 fly in 2004-2008-2012 although regardless of what happens in the French capital, he’ll continue to stand alone with four consecutive Olympic golds in the 200IM between 2004 and 2016.

Come Sunday 28 July and Peaty will write yet another line in the history books should he add to his crowns from Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021.

Peaty and Kosuke Kitajima are the only men to have won the 100m breaststroke at consecutive Games.

The Japanese swimmer triumphed at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 and also claimed the 200m titles to secure the double-double and be henceforth known as the ‘Frog King’.

Peaty has been making history since 2014 when he set WRs in the 50m breaststroke (26.42) and as part of the Great Britain mixed medley relay squad that went 3:44.02 at the European Championships in Berlin.

Adam Peaty: Photo Courtesy: Morgan Harlow/Aquatics GB

There have been 14 world records in all but he describes the prospect of the three-peat as “absolutely incredible.”

He said: “I think that it’s one of the greatest things an athlete can do is win at an Olympic Games but try and do it twice and try and do it three times.

“There’s a reason why not many people do it, I know that now. Because I’ve been through it and it will send you round and round and round if you try and force it.”

So too does he see parallels between himself and Phelps.

“Obviously Michael Phelps had so many other things going on between those Olympic Games – seeking other things and trying to do other things.

“But my journey is very similar in that way that you almost feel like there’s a void, especially post-Tokyo – I’ve done it twice now, have I got enough in me to go for a third?

“At the time yes and then life deals its cards: I broke my foot, came back even harder and burnt out.

“I had my own cards dealt and trying to come through those and trying to come through being a dad at the same time and all those other things going on in my life that I am finally at peace with but it’s cost a lot to get here.

“In a sense I was willing to pay that cost but I’m excited to see what we can do.”

The Loneliness Of The Pioneer

Peaty’s tribulations have been well documented.

His 2022 was marked by upheaval. He broke his foot which forced him to withdraw from the World Championships in Budapest before returning for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham where he tasted defeat over 100m for the first time in his career.

He split with the mother of his son George, before heading off to Melbourne for the World Short-Course Championships in December after which the storm clouds gathered and he started to spiral.

Adam Peaty: Photo Courtesy: Deepbluemedia/Insidefoto

It was at this point he turned to alcohol, telling Swimming World last year:

“I was chasing numbness because I was so burnt-out.

“I came very close to stopping but I was just severely, severely unhappy and that was a very dark place because you tend to find other things to fill that void.”

He stepped away from the intensity of training and competition and confronted life past and present head on, distance enabling him to see that body and mind were not aligned in the athlete who had described his drive as “demonic” in its relentlessness and intensity.

Family and friends, partner Holly Ramsay, coach Mel Marshall, all who made up Team Peaty and Aquatics GB provided the strongest of support structures.

He also credits his faith and the community at the evangelical church he attends with playing a fundamental role in his journey back to health.

Mel Marshall & The Love “Out There” For Peaty

Marshall has coached Peaty since he walked through her doors as a 14-year-old at the City of Derby club where she was head coach.

A two-time Olympian and world, European and Commonwealth medallist, she will head to Australia after the Games to take up a high-performance role at Griffith University Swim Club, Queensland.

Their partnership has spanned 15 years with the pair blazing a trail that has taken them to the pinnacle and Peaty into the uncharted waters of 56.88.

After Peaty stepped away, Marshall encouraged him to continue going to the pool at Loughborough National Training Centre, to spend time in the water.

Adam Peaty & Mel Marshall: Photo Courtesy: Mel Marshall

She told Swimming World:

“The community of swimming just opened their doors to us. We wanted a couple of training sessions that were just for a couple of months out of the way.

“A school that let us swim in their little pool, just anybody I knew – let’s get some different environments.

“People just opened their doors and opened their hearts to help us through what it was and it was a really quite uplifting space, an uplifting time.

“One of the pools was 25 metres and had a greenhouse roof and it was me and him and just being quiet and swimming.

“It was a hard time but there was so much love out there for him. ‘We want you to do well, we’re here for you Adam.’

“I think it was a bit of a rebirthing of him and a humbling experience really.”

To Peaty it came down to either retiring or returning to competition with an approach that was healthier for his mental wellbeing.

The 29-year-old didn’t want to live with any regrets or ask himself, “What if?” further down the road, a question all-consuming in its destruction and self-blame.

Ahead of his return in 2023, he told Swimming World:

“A lot of people in the sport—because it isn’t kind to older athletes in so many ways—they hang it up, and that’s their legacy done.

“But for me, it just didn’t sit right that I would have done that.

“And I think the pain of losing is nothing compared to the pain of regret, so for me I’ve got to accept that challenge, and I’m working really hard in and out of the pool to facilitate that.”

Heading To Paris Atop The Rankings

And accept the challenge he did.

Peaty returned to competition at the Berlin stop of the World Cup tour in October last year and in February won 100m bronze at the Doha worlds.

At the British trials in April, Peaty posted his fastest time since Tokyo in 57.94, the only man through the 58 barrier in 2024 ahead of Qin Haiyang and his 58.24.

Adam Peaty: Photo Courtesy: Morgan Harlow/Aquatics GB

Qin won an historic breaststroke treble at the Fukuoka worlds which he repeated days later at the Universiade and then at the Asian Games in September.

He was also reportedly among the 23 Chinese athletes who tested positive for the banned heart booster TMZ which were ultimately attributed to contamination.

Doha champion Nic Fink and Tokyo silver and bronze medallists Arno Kamminga and Nicolo Martinenghi will all be jostling for medals.

While Peaty has his eyes on gold, the experience of the past few years has shown him that it’s not the be all and end all in terms of his existence nor is it the answer to all his questions.

“Now I do want to win, I want to be the best, I am the best – I’ve still got the world record – and I am going to have a good challenge come Paris.

“And that’s the only thing that gets me excited, is a challenge at the Olympic Games.

“And that’s because I’m an older athlete now.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to work my way through each championship and win everything there is to win in this sport but now it’s okay, how good can I win? My relationship with winning now – is it defined by a time, is it defined by something else?

“So, I have peace and that doesn’t mean you go out there and it doesn’t matter what happens – of course it does because you’ve worked for it – but it’s also that I’m not defined by what’s on the result board.”

Marshall: Going Back Home To The Biggest Stage Of All

How to balance peace and calm with finding the necessary drive and single-mindedness.

The final word goes to Marshall.

Mel Marshall: Photo courtesy: Aquatics GB

“I always think love is more powerful than anger and Adam had a lot of power and anger but Adam got a lot of power and love as well,” she told Swimming World.

“So, I think getting those balances right and making sure that he’d got enough of both is really important.

“I think the biggest thing that Adam is, he’s a big arena performer.

“There’s something so magical about the Olympics that I just think ultimately the emotion and the elevated experience of that is something that he is just really looking forward to being back there.

“We say we’re going back home. Just like, we’ll find a great energy and a great excitement about being able to get on to one of the world’s biggest stages.

“What it is to be inside that absolute spectacle, just phenomenal.”