World record is not enough for Adam Peaty

Peaty smashes the 100 metres breaststroke world record, stopping the clock at 57.1 seconds dead, marking a remarkable return to form for the 23-year-old, who had cut a dejected figure at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, where he won in an uncharacteristically slow 58.84 secs as well as being beaten over his less-favoured shorter distance.

“I don’t just want to win – I want to dominate,” said a delighted Peaty, who has set his own ‘Project 56’ target of going under 57 seconds.

“That’s not an arrogant side, it’s just the competitive side in me.

“I wasn’t going out there to break the world record, but when I got to 50m I thought, this is so easy. Then I came back and all the passion and emotion of the let-down of the Commonwealths really fuelled that.

“After the heats yesterday I knew I was in good shape. After the semi I was back in the 58s but it just shows what you can do if you have a positive mental attitude.”

Peaty’s superiority was such that his Great Britain team-mate James Wilby, who took silver, finished over one and a half seconds behind him in 58.54.

While the likes of Wilby still dream of cracking the 58-second barrier, Peaty - still the only man to have done so - now stands on the brink of achieving his long-held and personal ‘Project 56’ campaign.

“It gives me another level of motivation,” said Peaty of narrowly failing to beat 57 seconds some two years ahead of schedule. “If I’d done it, everybody would have started to talk about ‘Project 55’.”