Adam Ramsay-Peaty crashes out at European Aquatics Championships
Adam Ramsay-Peaty endured a dismal afternoon at the European Aquatics Championships in Paris, crashing out of the 50m breaststroke in the heats after finishing a distant eighth in his race, reports BritPanorama.
The three-time Olympic champion recorded 27.34 seconds — the slowest time he has ever posted in international competition over the distance — placing him 20th overall and well outside the top 16 needed to advance to the semi-finals.
Ramsay-Peaty, now 31, was visibly at a loss to explain his performance. “These performances are not good enough at all,” he told Swimmingworldmagazine.com. “Even now I am like, it is so bad that I’m confused.” A dreadful start proved his undoing, leaving him with far too much ground to make up on his rivals.
This result signifies a staggering fall from grace for a swimmer who holds the world record of 25.95 seconds, set nearly a decade ago in 2017. Ramsay-Peaty has recorded eight of the ten fastest 50m swims in history, yet has not dipped below 26.50 seconds since the 2021 European Championships. Between 2014 and 2020, he claimed an extraordinary 16 consecutive gold medals at the Europeans — a run of dominance that came to an end this week in Paris.
His earlier performance in the 100m breaststroke yielded only fifth place, whilst he also finished fourth in the mixed medley relay. Last month’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow brought further anguish, as Ramsay-Peaty broke down in tears after taking bronze in the 100m breaststroke, later collecting another bronze in the 50m.
Ramsay-Peaty has been overhauling his dive technique alongside coach Lisa Bates, but the reconstruction work appears to have done more harm than good since it began just weeks before a competition in Rome in June. “It is probably how I’m hitting the water,” he explained. “We only started to deconstruct it two weeks before Rome and obviously a lot of things have gone worse since then.”
He conceded that a fundamental rethink was required. “I think I’ve just got to really change up what I’m doing, to be honest,” he said. While acknowledging that his swimming itself felt reasonable, the Briton was clear that his entry into the water was costing him dearly — a challenge that has left him trailing from the blocks and unable to recover.
Despite these setbacks, Ramsay-Peaty’s sights remain fixed on the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, where the 50m breaststroke will feature for the first time. Having claimed 100m silver at Paris 2024, the prospect of competing over his specialist shorter distance on the grandest stage offers powerful motivation. He is expected back in the pool on Sunday for the 4x100m medley relay.
For now, the 16-time European champion is treating this bruising spell as a painful but necessary education. “This week is — and Commies — I think, just one of those lessons, right?” he reflected. “I just want it to be over because you want to get back to work, but at the same time you want to enjoy it as much as you can.” Fellow Briton Filip Nowacki also missed the semi-final cut, finishing 18th in the heats.
