Fighting-fit Peaty takes aim at dopers as he begins defence

speak. Swimming is one of the biggest Olympic sports and FINA have a lot of money in the bank and athletes aren’t getting the right dividend.

“We’re the entertainment. We don’t care about money, we care about pushing the limits and winning, but it’s not fair. I’m my own company, my own stock, and I want that stock to rise.”

FINA had threatened to ban athletes competing in the rival, nonsanctioned International Swimming League, which begins in October and has a leg in London, with Peaty goading them in December to go through with their threat. Despite his public rebukes, he has had zero contact back.

“In all my time, I’ve met the [FINA] CEO [Julio Maglione] just once. If I were in FINA’s shoes, I’d say, ‘Athletes, what do you want?’ It’s not like we want millions of pounds. We want a voice and we want workplace equality. Where’s the communication and why are you so afraid to talk to athletes? I think they see us as a threat, but we’re not here to harm you, we’re here to work with you.”

In the anti-doping fight, Peaty understands his own sporting dominance — he has not lost since 2014 over 100m — will be questioned again when competing, despite being tested twice a week in the lead-up to these championships.

“Hopefully, most people know where I stand on doping, but I get tweets saying, ‘You’re looking massive, you must be on steroids’,” he said. “Are you serious? I’m probably one of the biggest people against doping. You get people who are jealous, but that’s sport and I know that ‘Gary’, with 50 followers, isn’t going to affect my race. You have to laugh about it.”

FINA were contacted with regard to Peaty’s comments but had not responded by the time of going to print. BEN PROUD

Londoner is the defending champion for the 50metre butterfly but could have a better shot at gold over the same distance in the freestyle. He faces stiff competition from Brazil’s Bruno Frats, Russian Vladimir Morozov and Caleb Dressel, of the USA.