Commonwealth Games: Olympic champion Adam Peaty qualifies fastest for 100m breaststroke semi-final

Two-time defending Commonwealth Games champion Adam Peaty finished fastest in qualifying for tonight's 100m breaststroke semi-final in his return from injury. Racing for the first time since May, Peaty was the only swimmer to finish under one minute, posting 59.92s in his qualifier. Ad/> Peaty had been sidelined for 10 weeks after first suffering an ankle injury in preparation for an appearance on Dancing with the Stars, before fracturing his foot in a gym accident, but looked comfortable back in the pool for the first time.

Swimming'A new lease of life' — Peaty hoping to put disrupted year behind him at Commonwealth Games20/07/2022 AT 14:50 Having already been forced to pull out of the World Championships in Hungary last month, there were fears that Peaty might also miss the Commonwealth Games, but he put those fears to bed with a confident performance. After the race, Peaty admitted that he is still working up to full fitness, saying «I had no idea where I am at, I still don't really, I am still blowing out the cobwebs. It feels all right in the water, it is just literally now going through the rounds.

I’ve been at two races this year so it’s a little bit different. Yeah, felt all right… we’ll see how we improve for the semis. »It’s a very home Games for me, I grew up about 50 minutes away… it’s great to see the crowd, and hopefully tonight will be even better." Peaty suggested as well that he was racing within himself in the heats, saying «I saw the heats come through and thought, ‘you know what, it’s going to be a waste of energy going fast this morning’.