‘Brotherhood’ of Britain inspires Peaty in relays
Other teams ‘idolise’ culture of GB squad close to best haul Breaststroke champion goes for second gold in treble bid
Another day at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, another near-miss for a British world record and the claim from Adam Peaty that other nations now “idolise” the team culture inside the group of swimmers he spearheads.
Seventy-two hours on from his triumph in the 100 metres breaststroke, Peaty was back in the water for the mixed 4x100m medley relay and, on the evidence of a qualifying gap of more than two seconds to the United States and China, well on his way to the second of a possible three golds. That final is tomorrow at 3.43am UK time before what is shaping up into the most successful Olympics in British swimming history concludes on Sunday with the men’s 4x100m medley relay, when Peaty, Duncan Scott, James Guy and Luke Greenbank will be favourites for another gold.
“Over the past six years, the culture and the ethos we live by has just evolved into something that is idolised by other teams,” Peaty said.
“It was great to get that to a rolling start, but what the other guys did is just remarkable.
“If I helped them just 0.5 per cent, then that’s my job done. The team is getting older, more experienced, and I can’t wait for the next generation to start kicking through now and to say, ‘This is possible’.”
The seeds of that next generation were evident in qualifying for the mixed medley relay, an event that promises to capture the imagination of sports fans far beyond swimming.
Each team must select two male and two female swimmers, but can then decide themselves on who swims the backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle legs. Peaty’s
capacity to swim 100m breaststroke several seconds faster than almost anyone in history makes him one obvious pick, with Team GB opting here to start out with Kathleen Dawson, before handing over to Peaty and then Guy on the butterfly.
Some nations chose men on the two opening legs, meaning that there are huge ebbs and flows in the race before the final freestyle leg, which was swum in qualifying for Britain by Freya Anderson, but is likely to be Anna Hopkin in the final. Dawson, Anderson and Hopkin are all competing at their first Olympic Games.
“The mixed medley shows that swimming doesn’t have to stay the same as for the past 100 years – they can develop and evolve to the modern world, which is new races and keeping it entertaining,” Peaty said.
Team GB’S success in swimming relays might seem like an entirely new phenomenon, but it actually represents the culmination of a process that has been building now for the past decade.
The men finished sixth and fourth in the men’s relays in 2012 before improving to two silver medals behind the United States in Rio de Janeiro five years ago.
They then toppled the Americans in the 4x100m medley relay at the World Championships two years ago and have a wonderful chance now to win three Olympic relay golds. With the various swimmers based in Bath, Loughborough and Stirling, specialist relay training camps have been arranged to finetune different combinations and, crucially, team spirit.
It was striking, for example, that Guy chose not to swim in the 100m butterfly, his best individual event, yesterday so that he could focus on his leg of the mixed medley relay. Guy could also now end these Olympics with three relay golds.
“It’s a very powerful thing,” Peaty said. “Racing with team-mates for a long time is one of our biggest strengths. We’ve got heritage, we’ve got unity but also a brotherhood.
“You’ve got a team who have been there for each other, and we’ve had the same team now for six or seven years, give or take.
“That’s a very strong bond. We’re going to give absolutely everything on those relays.”