Adam Peaty, Great Britain's five-time world champion swimmer, has revealed his ambition to compete at three more Olympic Games, including the 2028 Los Angeles Games. The 22-year-old, who won gold in the 100m breaststroke at Rio 2016, plans to seek advice from six-time Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy on maintaining success over a long career.
Peaty, from Uttoxeter, shares an agent with Hoy and hopes to emulate the cyclist's longevity. Hoy won his sixth Olympic gold at age 36 in London 2012. Peaty believes advances in training will help him stay at the top through Tokyo 2020, Paris 2024, and on to LA, where he will be approaching 34.
Peaty said: 'By the time I'm 30, 32, when I want to retire, hopefully that legacy is going to be there. There's going to be some young whipper-snapper following in my path and hopefully they're going to be British.' He cited Anthony Ervin, who won 50m freestyle gold at 35 in Rio, as proof that age need not be a barrier.
The swimmer, who recently won the 50m and 100m breaststroke titles at the World Championships in Budapest, has long-term goals including 'Project 56' – breaking 57 seconds in the 100m breaststroke. His current world record stands at 57.13 seconds. To match Hoy's record Olympic gold haul, Peaty may need to add the 200m breaststroke to his repertoire, as the 50m event is not on the Olympic programme.
Peaty also draws on mentorship from fellow swimmer Rebecca Adlington and plans to dine with Hoy to learn from his experience. He said: 'I'm pretty certain it's 'win, win again and win with class'. That's the main motto now.'
Outside the pool, Peaty and his coach Mel Marshall will take on 50 hours of sport in five days to raise funds for the Perfect Day Foundation, which supports Zambian children through sport. Peaty added: 'When you do keep winning and winning sometimes you've got to ground yourself and give back to the communities and the people that have supported you.'
