Adam Peaty wins 50m Breaststroke World Cup silver in Athens

Adam Peaty upgraded his 50m Breaststroke bronze to silver at the second leg of the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup 2023 in Athens.

After making his competitive return with bronze in Berlin at the opening leg, Peaty progressed to the final once again and set a time of 26.89 to finish runner-up behind triple world champion and current men’s World Cup leader – Haiyang Qin of China.

Qin finished in 26.52, 0.37 ahead of Peaty with world silver medallist Nic Fink rounding out the podium with a 26.98.

The three-time Olympic champion, Peaty, improved his time from last weekend’s final by 0.09 as he continues his return to the pool.

It was another positive performance from Peaty as he targets the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris next summer.

He also competed in the 100m Breaststroke event where he matched his sixth place finish from last week’s final in Germany.

Speaking to World Aquatics after his silver medal Peaty said that he took a step forward in Greece.

He said:  “This is the first race that I can say, ‘I am getting back after two years.’

“Finding the path is like a maze, I try something new, and it’s a dead end, try something new and another dead end. Try something new we got half way down the maze. Today was half way down the maze, but tomorrow might be another dead end.

‘Swimming has been good to me’

“Being a mature athlete, one that has been in this sport for 18 years, it does take maturity.
Swimming has been very good for me and swimming has been good to me.

“Sometimes it can be tough, but I also take a lot of pleasure in swimming. World Aquatics has done an incredible job in organizing these events in Europe. If we can carry this passion around the world, the sport is in a very good place.”

There were three other Brits in action at the Olympic Aquatic Centre in Athens where City of Manchester athlete Jamie Ingram improved on his ranking in both the 100m Freestyle and 50m Butterfly from the event in Berlin.

Ingram climbed 13 places in the Men’s 100m Freestyle to finish 18^th whilst he moved from 18^th to 13^th place in the 100m Butterfly where he was just 0.59 from making the final.

He also won his 50m Butterfly heat with a time of 24.64 which was 0.15 faster than his time in Germany and saw him rank 24^th overall.

Loughborough University’s Calvin Fry was 22^nd in both the Men’s 50m and 100m Freestyle. The 19-year-old also raced in the 50m Butterfly where he was ranked 37^th.

Michael Ripper completed the British contingent out in Greece, finishing just behind Fry in the 100m Freestyle in 27^th but impressed in the 200m Freestyle with 14^th place. He set a time of 1:52.38 which was just 1.67 off the top eight.

You can find all the results from the World Aquatics World Cup second leg in Athens here and you can watch all the World Cup action on the World Aquatics YouTube channel.

The World Aquatics World Cup concludes next weekend in Budapest, with competition taking place from 20-22 October.

Image: British Swimming