100 m breaststroke, men

What to remember

The time came in a semi-final, not a final: on July 21, 2019, at the World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, Adam Peaty swam the 100 m breaststroke in 56.88 s. The British swimmer was by then the dominant name in the event.

Peaty specialises in the sprint breaststroke races and was crowned world champion over 50 m and 100 m in 2015. He won the 100 m breaststroke at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, the first gold for a male British swimmer in 24 years, breaking his own world record in that final. He retained the title at the Tokyo 2020 Games, held in 2021, becoming the first British swimmer ever to retain an Olympic title. Between 2014 and 2020 he dominated the 100 m breaststroke at major long course championships.

The Gwangju swim was faster than both of his Olympic wins, in Rio and in Tokyo. The 100 m breaststroke has been on the Olympic programme for both men and women since 1968, and at the World Aquatics Championships from their first edition, in 1973.