Adam Peaty proved he is no respecter of reputations after he defeated an Olympic silver medallist and a Commonwealth champion at the British Championships. Peaty’s victory in the 200m breaststroke at London Aquatics Centre booked him a place on the Great Britain team for the world championships in Russia.
The 20-year-old won European and Commonwealth medals over 100m and 50m breaststroke last summer as well as setting a new world record in the one-length event. However, over four lengths he faced the likes of Commonwealth champion Ross Murdoch, 2012 Olympic silver medallist Michael Jamieson and 2012 finalist Andrew Willis.
That mattered little however at the British Championships – which double as qualification for the team for the world titles in Kazan this summer – in what is the first competition at London Aquatics Centre since the 2012 Olympics.
Also joining him on the team are James Guy, who set a new British record in the 400m freestyle, and Chris Walker-Hebborn who seared to the top of the world rankings in the 100m backstroke.
Peaty came back on the final length to edge Commonwealth bronze medallist Willis – with whom he had traded the lead throughout the race – to touch in 3min 8.34sec and match the qualification standard. Murdoch was third while Jamieson – for whom this had been the scene of his greatest moment when he took silver two and a half years ago – was sixth.
Peaty – whose coach Melanie Marshall has described him as a “gladiator” – said: “Not to be disrespectful but what those guys did was last year. I came away strong at the end of last season but this year you have to start again. I just stayed relaxed throughout the whole race. I stayed with the pack and then that last 50m I turned on that red light that gets me going, gets the adrenaline going and that carried me home.
“My red light is just all the things that make you angry, all the things you haven’t achieved yet and that absolutely carries me home, you feel no pain when it comes on. You can’t choose when it comes on – the crowd chooses, and they brought me home.”
Guy knew he would have to at least match the British record he set en route to Commonwealth bronze in 2014 if he was to book a spot in the 400m freestyle. The 19-year-old stretched away on the penultimate length to dip 0.42sec inside his national mark in 3min 44.16sec, second fastest in the world this year.
Walker-Hebborn booked a 100m backstroke spot with a scorching time of 52.88sec, good enough to head the world rankings. However, there will be no trip to Russia for former Commonwealth champion Liam Tancock, who finished second.
Siobhan-Marie O’Connor and Hannah Miley won the 100m freestyle and 200m butterfly respectively but were outside the times required.
The action took place inside a venue which has undergone extensive change over the last two and a half years. The precipice-like temporary seating wings allowing the venue to accommodate up to 17,500 people have been removed with capacity reduced to 2,500, with an additional 1,000 seats available should it be required. Where once was the vertigo-inducing seating, 628 panes of glass have been installed, allowing the venue to be bathed in light.
Olympic 10m platform bronze medallist Tom Daley has made the centre his training base, the place coming to a standstill as he prepares to propel himself into the water at speeds of up to 40 miles per hour. Also based at the venue are Aimee Willmott and Sophie Taylor, two of the new wave of British swimmers who won a combined seven European and Commonwealth medals last summer.
The warmup pool, meanwhile, is now a sea of inflatables, with children clambering aboard to launch themselves into the water.
