Olympic hero Adam Peaty discusses his Olympic plans, new son and life with ADHD

26 July 2023 , 07:43

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"I’m going to risk it all, go for another one and be defined by the person I’ve become”

For the first time in his life Adam Peaty, Britain’s greatest swimmer, is playing catch-up.

The second anniversary of him retaining his Olympic title has coincided with one year exactly until the Paris Games.

The chance to look back with pride on Tokyo, where he repeated his Rio triumph in the men's 100 metres breaststroke. And to throw his mind forward to France and the challenge of an Olympic hat-trick in the same swimming event - a feat Michael Phelps alone, in the men’s 200m individual medley, has bettered.

Only today finds Peaty looking neither forward nor back as he battles to get a handle on the present. Because while his job has not changed, pretty much everything else has.

“I need balance in my life,” the 28-year old admits. “I can’t run from this any more.

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“I need to look at the sport in a different way. The end goal is the same, but for me now it’s more about how I do the daily stuff and not be defined by the outcome.”

Olympic hero Adam Peaty discusses his Olympic plans, new son and life with ADHD

Peaty in action at last summer's British Championships. He withdrew from this year's event citing mental health issues (Getty Images)

This past year the man who made his name in water has become more comfortable on dry land.

Since losing his 'invincible' tag at the Commonwealth Games he has separated from the mother of his son George and been diagnosed with ADHD. In March he took a break from competition to attend to his mental health.

“I’ve almost turned on its head the way I approach life and swimming,” he says. “The pain of burnout is hard to live with. You lose your routine, what you do every day.”

A stunned Peaty after being beaten into fourth place in 100m breaststroke final at Birmingham Commonwealth Games (AFP via Getty Images)

This realisation tells him that to have a chance of finding more gold he cannot use the same map he did in Brazil and Japan.

“I’ve learned it’s very important to recognise the person behind the athlete,” he explains. “Understand that I have to live this way now and be a little more kind to myself. Find the balance that was missing before.

“The outcome is still what matters, the medals and world records, I have to be realistic about that.

Peaty showed his heart to bounce back and take 50m breaststroke gold in Birmingham (Getty Images)

“But how can we approach this differently? Because if you live your life defining happiness purely by results you won’t be happy.”

This is the man who needed “Project 56” - the pursuit of the first sub-57-second performance in the history of his event - for fresh motivation after recording the 20 quickest times ever.

Who ticked that box then turned to “Project Immortal”, an open-ended challenge to set a mark unreachable by any other human.

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Peaty wins his first Olympic title in Rio, breaking world record in process (AFP/Getty)

Nothing it seemed could stop him. Then he broke his foot in a freak gym accident, which left him undercooked at the Commonwealths in Birmingham.

He not only lost for the first time over his favourite discipline, he was beaten out of the medals. From there things rather unravelled.

His diagnosis has helped him understand better what makes him tick. Why he has deeper lows but also higher highs. Why he chases dopamine rushes and gets “bored” without them.

(AFP/Getty)

Therapy has opened his mind to the idea that life balance can equal happiness in and out of the pool. That success need not come at a cost of all else.

That is the theory anyway. There are no guarantees. Elite sport waits for no man, or woman - not even Peaty.

In Fukuoka, Japan., on Monday night, China's Qin Haiyang became 100m breaststroke world champion in 57.69s - and immediately set his sights on the absent Briton's 56.88 world record.