Adam Ramsay-Peaty ‘confused’ by disastrous European Championships exit
Adam Ramsay-Peaty is desperate for his troubled season to end after a shocking exit from the 50m competition at the European Aquatics Championships.
The 31-year-old finished eighth out of 10 in his heat, after a disastrous start left him with too much to do to catch his rivals.
Ramsay-Peaty is the world record holder over 50m with a time of 25.95sec set nearly a decade ago, but clocked a time of 27.34sec in Paris on Friday, his slowest time ever in an international race over the distance.
“These performances are not good enough at all,” he said. “Even now, I’m like, it’s so bad that I’m confused. I don’t really know where to start on a debrief. It’s just a heat. It’s so bad, very frustrating, but I’m hoping we can figure it out.”
Ramsey-Peaty has been working on reconstructing his start with new coach Lisa Bates, but it left him severely behind the rest as he slumped to a disappointing result. It follows bronze in the same event at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow last month.
“I know it wasn’t my reaction time,” he added. “It’s probably how I entered the water. We started to deconstruct it just weeks before Rome [June event]. And obviously a lot of things have gone wrong since. It’s got worse since then. I think I’ve just got to really change up what I’m doing, to be honest.
“The swimming feels OK, it’s just not enough. That’s obviously one of my slowest in-season times. It’s very frustrating. But this week is, and the Commies were, just one of those lessons, right? 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.”
Ramsay-Peaty has recorded eight of the 10 fastest 50m swims in history, but has not clocked under 26.50sec since the 2021 European Championships.
He has set his sights on Olympic glory in Los Angeles in 2028, where the 50m distance will be included in the Games for the first time, after winning 100m silver at Paris 2024.
Ramsay-Peaty is expected to return to the pool on Sunday for the 4x100m medley relay.
