Adam Peaty wins the Swimming GB Swimming Championships and qualifies for the Paris Olympics

Adam Peaty says he is back after winning the British 100m breaststroke title with the fastest time of the year to qualify for the Paris Olympics.

This was her fastest time since defending her Olympic title in 2021.

Asked if he was back to his best, the 29-year-old three-time Olympic champion said: “I think so.”

He added, “57.9 is a very good score, but it's still not at the level I want, but it was my first solid result and I thought, “Wow, not many people can do this.''

World record holder Peaty was unbeaten over 100m for eight years starting in 2014, but has gone through an even more difficult period since becoming the first British swimmer to successfully defend his title at the Tokyo Olympics. There is.

He finished fourth at the 2022 Commonwealth Games after breaking his foot and said he was in a “spiral of self-destruction”, taking time off from competition for much of 2023 to prioritize his mental health.

When he returned to major championships in February, he had to settle for a bronze medal at the Doha World Championships, but a time of 58.53 seconds in Tuesday's heat would have been enough for gold there. And he was even faster in the final that night.

This was the fastest 100m breaststroke since China's Qin Haiyang, who is expected to be Peaty's rival at this summer's Olympics, won the 2023 World Championships in 57.69 seconds.

“I felt so light in the water,” he said.

“This is a real victory for my team, my family and myself. We have been through the last three hellish years.

“I didn't want to see the pool anymore. Sports broke my heart.

“I didn’t know which path to take and a lot of things got in my way, but now I wake up every day and enjoy my job.

“No one knows how it will end, but I am enjoying it up to the middle.

“It may not end in a fairy tale, but maybe…”

The winner of each event at this week's championships will effectively secure one of two Olympic spots in each event, as long as they meet the qualifying times.

Commonwealth Champion james wilby He won the silver medal after Peaty, but his time was 0.02 seconds slower than his Olympic qualifying time.

In other places, Kianna McInnes Shocked by picking 2024 world champion in 200m butterfly laura stevens To secure her place.

She won the title in a Scottish record time of 2 minutes 7.24 seconds, but Stevens was also 0.13 seconds slower than her qualifying time, so both are likely to qualify in France.

Freya Colbert Although she won the 200m freestyle, she said she was unlikely to compete in Paris due to a conflict with the 400m individual medley she won at the world championships earlier this year.

Colbert's victory secured him a spot on the 4×200 meter relay team. abby wood She placed second, below her qualifying time, so she is likely to qualify for the Olympic event.

Kieran Bird Although he won the men's 400-meter freestyle by swimming a lifetime best time, his time of 3 minutes 45.63 seconds was just 0.2 seconds short of the Olympic qualifying time.

The British Championships are also fully integrated with Para events, but Paralympic qualifying takes a different format. Swimmers compete in mixed weight races and are ranked according to time to select a full team.

Five swimmers participated in the women's 200m para freestyle race. poppy maskil, Olivia Newman-Baronius, Louise Fides, jessica jane applegate and Susannah Hoechst – All within qualifying time.

Maskil won the title and took pole position in Paris.

Other para swimming events include Sam Downey Winning the 400m freestyle grace harvey 50 meter butterfly, lyndon longhorn 150m individual medley harry stewart In the 100m breaststroke, none of the four athletes reached the initial qualification time for the Paralympic Games.