Adam Peaty took a trip down memory lane as he reminisced about the places that have played a key part in his journey to the top of the Olympic podium.
Peaty became the first Briton to defend an Olympic title when he added the 100m breaststroke in Tokyo to gold at Rio 2016.
The 26-year-old also became only the second swimmer – along with Kosuke Kitajima – to win that event on two occasions.
He was also a member of the British mixed 4x100m medley relay squad that won gold in the Japanese capital.
Peaty is unbeaten over two lengths of a long-course pool since his international debut at the 2014 Commonwealth Games since when he has won eight world and 16 European titles as well as defending his Glasgow gold.
Coached since 14 by Mel Marshall at the City of Derby club and now Loughborough, Peaty has always acknowledged the role others have played.
In the film called ‘Homecoming with Adam Peaty,’ the swimmer – driving a CUPRA Formentor – recalls his first swimming lesson, saying:
“I was clinging to my one of my best mates’ mum’s arms – just don’t let me go.
“I was like a cat in water. I did not like it.”
Peaty was brought up in Uttoxeter, a market town in Staffordshire in the English midlands, where he swam at the local leisure centre, which he credits as the starting point, saying:
“Of all the pools I’ve seen around the world, this is the most important.
“My first proper swim club: where the journey really, really started.”
He left the Dove Valley club for the City of Derby to which he pays a surprise visit during a club training session at the Queen’s Leisure Centre.
Courtesy of CUPRA
Caitlin Skelly said: “It’s just amazing that Adam is here. We all look up to him and to see that he has come back is a big inspiration to us.”
“He’s such a big role model in the sport, not just for us as a club but globally,” commented fellow 16-year-old Ben Twynham.
Head coach Kyle Hudson was thrilled to have Adam prove to his team what could be achieved with hard work and determination, saying: “He’s shown it’s possible to start here and go as far as you want to go.”
Looking on, Peaty said:
“I was one of these kids, so if they can relate to that – that you haven’t got to be anyone special and that you just have to be someone who works extremely hard – then one of these kids may go to the Olympics in the future and for me that is what it’s all about.
“It’s incredible – all the nostalgia and all the memories.
“When you win and you win big, you can easily forget it so I’m glad that today happened with CUPRA to experience it all again.”
Peaty – a CUPRA brand ambassador – has swapped the pool for the dancefloor on British TV show ‘Strictly Come Dancing’.
He wowed on his debut dance on Saturday, recording the second-highest score of the evening with partner Katya Jones.
However, in ‘Homecoming’ Peaty left no-one in any doubt that he will still be making a Cha-Cha-Charge for Paris 2024, saying:
“I try to give my absolute best in the present.
“I don’t think about yesterday, I don’t think about tomorrow.
“I definitely want to go to Paris and then calibrate, see where I’m at.
“But I don’t know what I want to do after swimming because I don’t know what my next challenge is.
“That’s just the way I look at life.”