Three-time Olympic swimming gold medallist Adam Peaty will swap the thrill of indoor pool sprints for the challenge of triathlon endurance next month as he lines up for the T100 Series event in London.
The 30-year-old breaststroke legend, who recently confirmed that he would be bidding to qualify for his fourth Games at Los Angeles 2028, is set to compete in the Olympic-distance triathlon on Sunday, August 10 – a race which is sure to push him to the limit with a 1.5km swim, a 40km cycle and a 10km run to the finish.
How fast will Adam go?
For an athlete who holds world records at both the markedly shorter 50m and 100m distances, the idea of seeing him take on a vastly greater triathlon task with a combined course of 51.5km, has already sparked great interest, with the official T100 Series Instagram page posing the question ‘How fast will Adam complete the 1.5km swim?’.
Short enough to allow competitors to go at it hard from the off, yet long enough to provide a serious test of physical and mental strength, the Olympic-distance event has created some classic moments in the sport, not least when Alex Yee won gold for Great Britain in Paris last summer.
However, while Yee was swimming the Seine and racing around the streets of the French capital, Peaty was focusing on his own event as he narrowly missed out on a history-making third-straight 100m breaststroke gold by just 0.02 of a second to Italy’s Nicolò Martinenghi.
He would later comment that his resulting silver medal had probably meant more to him than the previous three golds, having battled back from a series of mental health issues that included him being diagnosed with ADHD in 2023. The fact that he also tested positive for Covid on the morning after the final pointed to the fact that he was not at peak physical condition.
With eight World Champion and 16 European Champion titles to his name, there is no doubting his dominance in the short-form and sprint swimming disciplines, but it remains to be seen how he copes with the choppy, much cooler, waters of the Royal Victoria Dock, and the fact that he must then jump on the bike and finish with a run.
Advice from Gordon Ramsay?
One man who is likely to be able to give him some tips, however, is renowned chef Gordon Ramsay, the father of Peaty’s long-term girlfriend and fiancée, Holly Ramsay.
Dad Gordon is a keen triathlete himself, with the 58-year-old Scotsman lining up alongside son Jack to complete the IRONMAN 70.3 Luxembourg Remich – Région Moselle just last weekend. Gordon completed the race in 6:52:28, while Jack came in an hour earlier at 5:53:19.
Both are expected to join Peaty at the London T100 Series event in what promises to be something of a family affair.
The TV chef’s personal IRONMAN history includes completing the sport’s pinnacle event – the IRONMAN World Championship in Kona in 2013 and IRONMAN 70.3 Staffordshire, along with several other IRONMAN 70.3 races.
However, he is only just coming back to full fitness after recovering from serious injuries sustained in a cycling accident a year ago.
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