Adam Peaty said it was ‘inspiring’ to be part of the British swimming team after they smashed the world record to win the inaugural Olympic 4x100m mixed medley relay on Saturday.
Britain have now won seven swimming medals in Tokyo, including four Golds, two Silvers and a Bronze, matching their greatest ever medal haul at an Olympics, last achieved in 1908.
“It’s incredible,” said Peaty, who could help Britain win an eighth medal in the men’s 4x100m medley relay on Sunday. “It’s more inspiring to be part of this team than anything could ever be. The four-strong mixed relay team of Kathleen Dawson, Peaty, James Guy and Anna Hopkin touched in 3min 37.58sec to break the previous world record of 3:38.41 set by China in Qingdao last year. The Chinese were second in 3:38.86 and Australia third in 3:38.95. The Caeleb Dressel-led United States were relegated to fifth. Dressel had earlier broken the world record to win his third sprint Gold in the 100m butterfly but Britain’s Hopkin was too far in front and she held off the American to secure victory.
The mixed relay was one of three swimming events debuting in Japan, along with the men’s 800m freestyle and women’s 1500m freestyle, and has been a huge success.
Teams comprised two women and two men, with each of the four swimmers allocated to one of the four traditional medley strokes — backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and freestyle.