“This is my arena,” Adam Peaty says defiantly, glancing back towards the swimming pool at Loughborough University. The three-time Olympic champion envisions a gruelling, 11-month journey to the Paris Olympics from here, having firmly committed to defending his 100m breaststroke title for a second time. Peaty then recites a famous Mike Tyson quote with an unwavering stare: “‘The closer I get to the ring, the more confident I get. Once I’m in the ring I’m a god…,’ That’s what we have to do at the Olympics. The closer I get to it, I’ve got to become a god.”
There is a conviction in Peaty, who fittingly sports a tattoo of Poseidon, the god of the sea, on his left forearm. Until last year, Peaty was untouchable after an eight-year unbeaten streak. The three-time Olympic champion reimagined what was possible in the breaststroke discipline and dominated the 50m and 100m, in particular, where he still holds world records at 25.95 and 56.88 seconds.
