I WAS DRINKING AND PARTYING TOO MUCH. I WAS AT SUCH A LOW EBB...
SUPERSTAR SWIMMER ADAM PEATY OPENS UP ON BOOZE, DEPRESSION, AND GOING FASTER THAN THE REST
ADAM PEATY did not need to be diagnosed to work out what was wrong. ‘I was in a place where you don’t find any fun in anything or you don’t really see the point in anything,’ the British swimming superstar recalls.
It was 18 months ago that Peaty suffered from those symptoms of depression and, for a time, the Olympic champion and world record holder became more interested in booze than breaststroke.
Peaty has previously admitted to struggling with the comedown from winning gold at Rio 2016. But this is the first time he has spoken of the mental torment he experienced two years later, triggered by a defeat in the Commonwealth Games in 2018 — his first loss in four years.
‘After Rio, you get the postOlympic blues, but my deepest low was at the end of 2018,’ the 25-year-old tells Sportsmail.
‘The Commonwealth Games was a tough time because I took a loss in the 50metres and I am the fastest man on the planet, so why was I losing? That doubt creeped up. There wasn’t really that much belief in myself.
‘After the Commonwealths, towards the end of the year, I didn’t have any races. And when you involve off-season and you involve partying and drinking, that’s a depressant in itself, so I was doing that a lot.
‘I kind of, not went off the rails, but I didn’t really have that overwhelming motivation to perform at something. And I am a performer, so if I don’t have something to perform at, I completely lose my track.
‘Add that in with all that partying and stuff, it wasn’t that great to have it all at once.
‘Then you are on this low where you can’t really enjoy anything, you don’t really see the point of buying nice things or doing nice things, because you don’t get a high out of it any more.
‘It took a long while to recognise what was important to me and what wasn’t. I have found that now. I know exactly how to treat my body, how to treat my mind, and it’s not by forcing alcohol as much as you can.’
Hearing Peaty speak about alcohol brings to mind a tale he once told about London 2012. He was then 17 and was about to go and get ‘drunk in a field’ before discovering that Scottish swimmer Craig Benson, a friend from junior days, had made the semi-final of the 100m breaststroke. That was the moment he ‘started being serious’ about swimming and, four years later, he became Olympic champion in that event.
‘As a teenager, I used to love getting hammered,’ admits Peaty. ‘But you get those moments where you appreciate that you are an athlete and all these things that come with an athlete have to come first.
‘I’d love to go out on a Friday night, on a Saturday night with the lads. I did that in 2018, pretty much, from like September to December.’
Every Friday and Saturday? ‘Oh yeah, and Thursday,’ replies Peaty. ‘I just got bored of it in the end and now I don’t even crave it because I got it out of my system. It got a bit tedious.’
Despite his lifestyle in the months prior, Peaty still won three gold medals at the World Championships in July 2019, breaking his own world record in the 100m — clocking 56.88 in the semi-finals. Interestingly, he says the catalyst for those results was the same thing that started his mental health struggles — that shock loss at the Commonwealths.
‘I evolved so much more from that than I ever would had I won,’ he says. ‘I am glad I lost that race. A few months later, I broke the world record, so that’s how much it p ***** me off.’
Peaty’s world-record swim in South Korea meant he completed ‘Project 56’, the outrageous bid to become the first man to go under 57 seconds in the 100m breaststroke he set with his coach Mel Marshall. Such is his dominance, the Staffordshire swimmer is unbeaten in the 100m in six years and has the 18 quickest times in history. So, is Project 55 possible?
‘It’s possible but it’s going to f ****** take a lot,’ says Peaty, who recently acquired an 18ft flume tank to train in his garden while pools are shut. ‘It’s a big ask. But I never say never. I am so obsessed with getting faster right now, that is my life.’
Ahead of next year’s rescheduled Olympics in Tokyo, Peaty’s only competition is the clock. Many might therefore think it would be difficult for him to stay motivated. But that would fail to understand the man’s mindset.
‘I love being on top and if I wasn’t winning, someone else would be on top and for me that’s not acceptable,’ he adds.
‘But it’s not just about going to the Olympics and winning it. It’s being the best possible version and the fastest person I can be.
‘I know I will look back in a few years’ time and go: “F ****** hell, that was quick”. If I can stay ten years undefeated, that is a massive accolade. That’s one of my goals in the near future.’
There will come a time when he has to contemplate slowing down. Peaty hopes to peak in Tokyo. Then, in the run-up to Paris 2024, he wants to strike a better balance between partying and the pool, yet the news he is to become a father in September may kibosh those best-laid plans.
‘There will be a point in my career where I go: “There is no way I am beating that”. Hopefully I get that in Tokyo, that’s the plan,’ explains Peaty. ‘Then I will be content with just winning. I will look at it and go: “This isn’t healthy to keep going on this curve of progression and dedicating my whole life”.
‘I will be 26 at the end of this year and you get the push and pulls of life. I want to go out with the lads on a Friday and not train Saturday morning. So how do I do that and still maintain enough to win? That will be another calculation for Mel to put in place.’
It took me a long while to realise what was important to me and what wasn’t