ADAM Peaty has habitually disregarded conventional norms.
The 24-year-old casually drops the bombshell of his latest defiance as if announcing his choice of breakfast cereal. A double-take is required, as he reveals plans to continue his journey beyond next summer's Tokyo Olympics, past Paris and on to Los Angeles 2028.
For Peaty, going out partying and drinking beer is the recipe for prolonged success he as been looking for.
The Englishman, who will line up in Glasgow for this week’s British Championships to secure places in the team for July’s world championships in South Korea, has longer-term plans to retain his Olympic 100 metres breaststroke title in Japan. And to the parallel project to become the first man to clock below 57 seconds in the event.
Having absorbed the lessons from seeing his four-year unbeaten streak evaporate at last April’s Commonwealth Games, he took stock. And rather than react, as most would, by redoubling his efforts, he will radically pace himself in the cause of longevity and drive.
Recuperation, his coach Mel Marshall has agreed, will be factored into the formula.
“For me, rest is going out with my mates, partying, having a beer, enjoying myself,” he admits. “That’s true rest. It’s doing what you normally do. I can’t rest and still train. It’s a weird way of thinking.
“Look at Michael Phelps after the Beijing Olympics. He was out drinking, playing golf . . . that’s what it takes. I can’t go until 2024 and 2028 training every day of every single year. Because you lose motivation. This is the most motivated I’ve been since I was 18 and that’s good.”
Ominous for his rivals, including local favourite Ross Murdoch and rising star James Wilby who will be among his initial opposition at Tollcross over 100m. A touch of complacency had crept in 12 months ago. Understandable amid such invincibility.
They should take some hope, he suggests. Perhaps not in such a vital contest as domestic trials, but elsewhere. Peaty takes pride in a cv that now lists five world and 12 European crowns. Yet to defy the accepted ageing process – he would be 33 by LA 2028 – “I need to know when to lose and when to win”.
Because, he outlines: “I don’t think it’s sustainable for me to go the next eight years looking to win at the Edinburgh International, trying to win other international meets around the country and around the world. Because if I’m going to go under 56, and go where I’ve not been before, I can’t be fending off some guys who’s going 59 at worlds. That’s not plausible for me.”
Derbyshire’s dynamo, you sense, will not easily lapse. The ruthless, cold desire to triumph is too embedded. Over the next six days in Glasgow, others will strive to cement their spot in Gwangju for the worlds. Peaty, above all, will use the meeting as a mere sharpener for what lies ahead ahead.
“There’s no question, the world title is mine,” he asserts. “It’s my title. I want to defend it and I can, if I get my head in the right space. I made a mistake where I over-compensated in my headspace and mentality. I got a bit cocky. But I’ve got a very good programme in place.
"I’m working with some very talented people in performance lifestyle. And I’ve put things in place to allow me to continue to push barriers and go where no-one else has been.”
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