Adam Peaty can now add “triathlon finisher” to his growing list of accomplishments.
The three-time Olympic swimming champion completed his first major triathlon event on Sunday (10 August), which he reckons ‘was one of the hardest things’ he has ever done.
Over the past weekend, the British swimmer took part in the London T100 Triathlon, which attracted over 5000 participants.
Peaty led home Team Ramsay, named after his future father-in-law, celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.
He raced over the Olympic distance, completing the 1.5km swim, 40km bike, and 10km run in 2 hours, 34 minutes, and 36 seconds — recording the fifth-fastest swim of the day (19:44).
“That was tough,” the British breaststroke maestro said in an interview with PTO+. “That was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done – but 100% would do it again!”
Despite being used to gruelling swim training, the 30-year-old reflected on the unique challenges of the triathlon:
“Yes, I’ve done training. Yes, I’ve done races under a minute. But I’ve never had to battle for two and a half hours and find different strategies.
“I may have used 70% of my adrenaline in that first 500m of the swim.
“My chain fell off my bike, and I was like, right, I know I’ve got to catch up time and try to average over 20 mph.
“I finished the bike, and my legs felt OK, but I felt a bit sore, and then that whole run, that was hard because I’ve never done a 10km race, let alone a triathlon 10km.”
British star Lucy Charles-Barclay and Olympic silver medallist Hayden Wilde claimed victories in their respective professional races on Saturday.