Adam Peaty Inspired By Own Experiences To Help Working-Class Swimmers Reach Their Potential
Adam Peaty has been inspired by the help he got from family and friends when he was a teenage hopeful to support other swimmers from working-class backgrounds to realise their potential.
The triple Olympic champion was the youngest of four children growing up in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, where his father Mark was a supermarket caretaker and his mother Caroline worked as a nursery manager.
Money was tight and when they couldn’t afford his first competitive race suit, family and neighbours raised funds through community-wide raffles, tombolas and barbecues.
Adam Peaty: Photo Courtesy: Ian MacNicol
When he was 14, Peaty joined the City of Derby club where Mel Marshall had taken over as head coach.
As the sole driver in the household, it fell on his mum to take Peaty on the 40-minute journey to and from training every day with neighbours also helping out before he passed his driving test.
At the World Championships back in 2017, Caroline spoke about the sacrifices the family made, adding: “We did it gladly, don’t get me wrong, but he realises how difficult that can be, so this is why he wants to give back.
“Give back to the community, give back to children that are not as well off as some swimmers where everything is there for them.
“I don’t want people to think this has been an easy journey for Adam – he has fought every step of the way; it has made him the man he is.”
Peaty has long recognised the selflessness of his family and how that was central to him being able to excel on a journey that has so far seen him claim three golds among six Olympic medals and eight world titles.
Inspired by what was done for him, the 30-year-old intends to set up a programme to help swimmers who may not otherwise get a shot at fulfilling their potential because of a lack of resources.
“I’d say it’s a long-term goal of mine and something I aspire to do because yes, I know how hard it is to make it from a working-class background,” he told Swimming World.
“My mum had to borrow money to even get to something like trials in 2012 where it’s almost setting you back two grand for a few days of racing. Two or three grand or whatever it was is a huge amount of money for a family that’s got four kids and you’re not really financially comfortable.
“So, I know exactly what it takes but also at that point I wasn’t IDd as a talent that was going to bring medals in. So, it’s about those kids that have the talent but don’t have the resources and they fall through the gaps.”
Following silver in the 100m breaststroke at Paris 2024, Peaty took time away from the water to focus on personal and professional matters.
That included the AP Race brand that he set up with Ed Baxter in 2019 and which delivers swim meets and clinics for all levels of swimmers in Great Britain and Saudi Arabia.
Since its inception, the brand has gone from strength to strength and is now valued in the multi-millions with two-time Olympic champion Matt Richards investing more than £25,000 in late 2024.
What has become apparent to Peaty and Baxter is the level of talent that falls through the cracks.
Matt Richards & Adam Peaty: Photo Courtesy: Simon Richards
“That may be the governing body’s fault, it may be lack of resources, it doesn’t matter whose fault it is at the moment,” said Peaty, who is now training with Jamie Main at Repton School.
“But we’ve recognised through the clinics and the thousands of kids and parents that we interact with and hundreds of coaches a year, there’s a massive shortfall of resources going to the grassroots.
“So, we offer a certain number of spaces depending on where the clinic is for working-class kids or kids who don’t have as many resources as the ones who are our primary market. To offer them an experience that will hopefully give them the confidence and motivation and inspiration to take up this sport, which is as we all know, an incredible sport to do but it’s extremely financially hard.
“In the long term me and Ed want to be in a position where we’re making enough positive cash flow that we can start to really re-invest back into the sport. We’re doing it in other ways such as offering hundreds if not thousands of tickets to our events each year.
“Eventually I do want to create a fund or a trust where we can really reach out to this up-and-coming talent and ideally it would be across all sports.
“That’s my dream – we can really access those kids who are borderline poverty or don’t have the financial backing.”
