Adam Peaty turns to a canoe to get him to Commonwealth Games in one piece

Adam Peaty hopes training in a canoe with his broken foot will allow him to take the plunge at the Commonwealth Games.

Britain’s greatest swimmer is in a race against time to be fit for the Birmingham multi-event showpiece after fracturing a bone whilst training in Tenerife.

The three-time Olympic gold medallist will miss this month’s World Championships in Budapest as he has yet to swim out of the boot encasing his right foot.

And with only seven weeks until Birmingham, where he is two-time defending champion at 100m breaststroke, every possible training option is being utilised.

“It’s going to be tight,” admitted Peaty’s coach Mel Marshall. “It’s going to be an interesting journey. He’s still in his boot at the moment and we’re in week four of a six-week injury.

“We took a decision to protect the training modalities in every area so we’ve had him in a canoe, we’ve had him on a bike doing adapted training without putting any force through the foot - and he’s been swimming in his boot the last two weeks.

“British Canoeing have been really amazing with helping him and teaching him how to get that different aerobic stimulus.

“What we’ve been able to do over the last five weeks from a programme point of view is nothing short of a miracle.

“It is still a tight turnaround for the Commonwealth Games, but we are trying everything and we will make the call as late as possible.”

Marshall believes the setback, which came just as the hardest part of the training block was done, will stand Peaty, 27, in good stead going forwards.

“It’s been a different challenge for him to have to deal with but, if anything, it’s come at the right time,” she said.

“There’s still two years to the Paris Olympics. This adversity has made us all be