“Everyone’s out for my blood,” Adam Peaty says with a smile. “It’s been the same with that target on my back for nearly 10 years. I just go – ‘join the queue’.”
The three-time Olympic champion is in bullish mood as he prepares to make his competitive comeback, which to his fans and followers of the sport will come as extremely welcome news.
Peaty, 28, last competed in March before withdrawing from the British Swimming Championships and later revealing that “burnout” had left him struggling with his mental health and problems with alcohol.
The Swimming World Cup in Berlin, which takes place from Friday to Sunday, will see him go head to head with Qin Haiyang for the first time since the Chinese swimmer completed a historic breaststroke golden treble – winning the 50m, 100m and 200m events – at the World Championships this summer.
Not only did Qin set a 200m world record, but the 24-year-old also came within 0.81 secs of Peaty’s previously considered ‘untouchable’ landmark time of 56.88 in the 100m, and later stated that record was his next target.
“What he’s done is very, very impressive,” Peaty tells BBC Sport.
“Yeah, it excites me, because if it’s all too easy it’s almost not worth winning, and if it’s one person winning all the time it can become stale, so sport needs rivalries in order to thrive.
“So, I accept that challenge, but it’s in a more balanced manner.”
Broken bones, total burnout and going back to basics
The British Olympian is referring to his new approach to sport and life, with Qin’s rise having coincided with a period where Peaty says he hit “rock bottom”.
“I’ve previously said that I want to do a world record that can’t be beaten for a long time, and while that still [motivates] me, now it’s about the challenge of how can I come back from my lowest point mentally and physically,” states Peaty.
“I’ve had to work on finding that balance in and out of the sport and approach things in a heathier way because previously I was just chasing those times, making all of the sacrifices and it led to total burnout.”
A broken foot early last year resulted in Peaty missing the 2022 World Championships and heavily hampered preparations for his home Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
While Peaty won 50m title, his defeat over 100m – as well as the negative media coverage around it – hit the swimmer hard and he did not race again for another four months.
Those challenges, combined with a separation from the mother of his son, all contributed to the mental health struggles he encountered in 2022 through into this year.
He credits psychological support as being key to identifying where his challenges arose from.
“It started in 2015, with my first world record, and looking back now the Olympics in 2021 was the end of that constant chasing harder and harder, so now I have a much more holistic and long-term approach in and out of the water,” he tells BBC Sport.
“There have been times since the Olympics where I really haven’t wanted to race any more, but now we’re creating a strategy of optimum performance based on rediscovering that love I have for the sport.
“That doesn’t mean we’re trying any less or preparing any less, but I’m finding that balance, and I also want to show to [my son] George that you don’t quit when things get tough.”
Preparations for Paris begin in Berlin
Peaty has not competed at the Swimming World Cup events since 2015, but in the pre-Olympic year the event switches from the traditional short-course (25m pool) to the long-course (50m pool) set-up used in major championships.
The change is designed to help athletes better prepare for the Paris Olympics and Peaty will compete in each of the three legs – Berlin this week, Athens from 13-15 October and Budapest from 20-22 October.
“I’m seeing these events as almost a celebration of how far I’ve come to get back from the horrible place I was in,” the eight-time world champion says.
“Racing should give me lots of data of what I need to work on over the next year, but I actually can’t wait to get back to racing against the best in the world, like Qin.
“He’s not been on my radar before and we’re talking about the next generation as he’s four years younger than I am, but to me it doesn’t matter.
Peaty concludes: “Every swimmer has their strengths and weaknesses, which you may not find out until we get to the Olympics, but I welcome the challenge and am excited by it.”
