Peaty keeps the faith in leadup to Paris

DOHA : Turning the page on a strife-torn year, Adam Peaty will resume his role as the standard-bearer for British swimming on Sunday when the Olympic champion dives into the Doha pool at the World Championships for the 100 metres breaststroke heats.

At a meeting snubbed by a legion of top swimmers, Peaty's long-awaited return to the world stage will be warmly welcomed by fans and organisers.

It will also be a milestone on the road to Paris where the 29-year-old world record holder will hope to defend his 100m breaststroke gold and become one of the hallowed few swimmers to win the same individual title three times.

Peaty's incredible dominance in breaststroke has earned him six individual world titles, the trappings of celebrity and an appearance on reality TV show Strictly Come Dancing.

But the pressure to live up to his own towering expectations, the discipline of dieting and the relentless grind of training have proved overwhelming.

Having spoken previously of suffering depression and problems with alcohol, Peaty withdrew from competitive swimming last year and revealed he had been in a "self-destructive spiral".

He returned to the pool for a trio of World Cup events in October where he finished off the podium in all of them and was well beaten by Chinese world champion Qin Haiyang.

It may take time for Peaty to return to his all-conquering best but the Briton's head-space on the eve of the World Championships is encouraging.

He told the BBC that he had found comfort in his Christian faith and been reminded that sport was not the "real world".

"I spent most of my life kind of validating, getting my gratification or life's fulfilment from my results and that led me to some dark moments," he said.

"And it's really living your