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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Barney Ronay

Supercharged GOAT-level swim‑genius Adam Ramsay-Peaty is the Messi of breaststroke

Illustration of Adam Ramsay-Peaty swimming in a pool
Adam Ramsay-Peaty has been a ‘paradigm-shifting’ swimmer and should be going to his fourth Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028. Illustration: Nathan Daniels/The Guardian

The Austrian philosopher and novelist Robert Musil once wrote a lengthy meditation on human capacity based around seeing the phrase “a racehorse of genius” in a newspaper sports section. Musil was disturbed by this idea. His basic question was: can a horse really be a genius?

If we are to ascribe the label of genius to a horse, based on its ability to run fast and successfully eat oats, where does this leave the unmapped capacities of the actual human genius? What is consciousness? What is a human? Should the question in fact be: will there ever be a human of sufficient genius they are able to actually perceive the genius of a horse?

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