Peaty smashes his own world record

ADAM PEATY swam further into uncharted waters at the World Championships yesterday as he broke his own world record and became the first man to swim 100metres breaststroke in less than 57 seconds. It was the fulfilment of Peaty’s three-year ‘Project 56’. The 24-year-old from Staffordshire clocked 56.88sec in his semi-final in Gwangju, South Korea, then backed himself to go quicker still in today’s final. ‘I’ve been chasing that for three years now,’ Peaty said after shaving 0.22sec off his record, set at last year’s European Championships. ‘There’s no other word for it but incredible.’ Peaty now owns the 16 fastest 100m breaststroke swims in history. ‘Ever since I touched the wall in Rio at the 2016 Olympics I was like, “I could go faster”. It’s a very special journey we’ve had and hopefully I’ll go a little bit faster tomorrow,’ said Peaty (right). The Olympic champion was first to point out that he still has the business of retaining his world title. ‘It’s still a semi-final. It will be a bit embarrassing if I get a world record and don’t come away with the world title. I don’t think like that. ‘One of the processes in my head tomorrow is still anyone can beat me, I can beat anyone. If I go into that race and go, “Oh, I’m the world record holder”, I’m not going to be achieving the best possible version of myself.’ China’s Yan Zibei was second fastest into the final in 58.67, while another Briton, James Wilby, was third man through in 58.83.