Adam Peaty Shatters 100 Breast World Record With Historic 56.88

2019 FINA WORLD AQUATICS CHAMPIONSHIPS

After cruising his way through the prelims in a blistering 57.59, Adam Peaty unleashed the fastest swim in history during tonight’s semi-finals of the men’s 100 breaststroke.

Peaty rocketed his way to a time of 56.88, becoming the first swimmer in history ever under the 57-second barrier (he is also the only swimmer to ever break 58).

This completes his famous ‘Project 56’ that he first mentioned back in 2017 in the lead-up to the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

The 24-year-old was under his previous world-record pace on both 50s of the race:

Peaty, 2018 Euros Peaty, 2019 Worlds
26.75 26.63
30.35 30.25
57.10 56.88

Peaty first set the world record in 2015, when he became the first man under 58 seconds in 57.92. He knocked the time down twice during the 2016 Olympics, bringing it to 57.13 in the final, and then reset it again last summer at the European Championships in 57.10 (after a timing glitch initially said he went 57.00).

The Brit now owns the 16 fastest swims in history in the event, and 18 of the top-20.

Men’s 100 Breaststroke, All-Time Performances

  1. Adam Peaty, 56.88
  2. Adam Peaty, 57.10
  3. Adam Peaty, 57.13
  4. Adam Peaty, 57.47
  5. Adam Peaty, 57.55
  6. Adam Peaty, 57.59
  7. Adam Peaty, 57.62
  8. Adam Peaty, 57.75
  9. Adam Peaty, 57.79
  10. Adam Peaty, 57.87
  11. Adam Peaty, 57.89
  12. Adam Peaty, 57.92
  13. Adam Peaty, 58.04
  14. Adam Peaty, 58.15
  15. Adam Peaty, 58.18
  16. Adam Peaty, 58.21
  17. Ilya Shymanovich, 58.29
  18. Adam Peaty, 58.36
  19. Adam Peaty, 58.41
  20. Cameron van der Burgh, 58.46

Heading into the final, Peaty is close to two full seconds clear of the next fastest swimmer in the field. Yan Zibei set a new Asian Record in 58.67, putting him second. Ilya Shymanovich, the second-fastest performer ever, went 59.38 and missed the final in 12th place.

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Swimmerlobber
5 years ago

Unreal.

Jeff
5 years ago

Almost got my 100 back time

Definitely Not Sun Yang
5 years ago

Other races are broken into supersuits vs textile. The 1 breast is peaty vs nonpeaty.

P.S. I hate to be the one that brings this up rn. I didn’t see this personally, but a lot of people commented they saw him taking multiple dolphin kicks in the prelims yesterday. I think it’s unfortunate that the extra kicks might have been what pushed him over the 56 barrier–but the extra kicking in breaststroke has become so blatant recently that I think it should be allowed at this point.

m d e
Reply to  Definitely Not Sun Yang
5 years ago

As a former breaststroker who couldn’t do fly kick I think we should use video replay and or ban them entirely.

Breaststrokes swim speed is too slow relative to underwater fly kick. Races would be decided underwater.

Dee
Reply to  Definitely Not Sun Yang
5 years ago

1. He didnt go under 57 in the prelim
2. The swim he did go under 57 in, people agreed it was a hip movement not a dolphin kick, thereby legal.

anonymous
Reply to  Definitely Not Sun Yang
5 years ago

Dolphin kicking is rampant in breaststroke nowadays. Rather than making it legal, I think it should be more enforced not to be. I haven’t seen this race, but I’ve watched other swims with Peaty and he hasn’t noticeably been an offender….at least by my eye.

JimSwim22
5 years ago

Had Peaty broken 58 more times than other men have gone 58? Super stud!

mcgillrocks
5 years ago

Before Adam Peaty, the record for the largest margin of victory in the 100m breaststroke at Worlds was 0.78 seconds from 1975 (won my Brit David Wilkie in 1:04.26).

In 2017 Peaty blew that out of the water, winning by 1.32 seconds over Kevin Cordes (57.47 to 58.79). Peaty could well win by over 2 full seconds here. Two full seconds.

mcgillrocks
Reply to  mcgillrocks
5 years ago

To add some context, I went back and found the margin if victory for every 100m men’s race at the World Championships.

Backstroke: 1.30 sec (Rolland Matthes 1973, 57.47)
Breastroke: 1.32 sec (Adam Peaty 2017, 57.47 — same time, spooky!)
Butterfly: 1.25 sec (Ian Crocker 2005, 50.40 — beat MP in this race too!
Freestyle: 0.70 sec (Dressel 2017, 47.17 — freestyle winning times are slightly smaller)

Peaty ALREADY holds the record for largest margin of victory. He’s poised to destroy it. What he’s doing is unprecedented. World records are a fact of the sport, but Peaty is showing dominance perhaps unlike any 100m swimmer in the recent era.

In the nearly 50 years of… Read more »

Mr Piano
5 years ago

USA Swimming

Wumbology
5 years ago

We should create one!

John26
5 years ago

It looks like his tempo is slower/ less jerky from 2016.

Swimman444
Reply to  John26
5 years ago

He grabbing more water

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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