19 Months After Mental Health Struggles, Adam Peaty Reveals Things That Saved His Life and Brought Him Back to Swimming

The swimming community with its beautiful events, rewards, recognitions, and other pleasures is one of the most enjoyed sports. However, nothing is too good to be true, similarly, this realm also has its pros and cons. Including physical injuries to mental health issues, this can take a dark turn here. The constant urge to win and perform well in competitions can be a problem for some athletes. One such agenda that made the entire community grieve is of the English swimmer Adam Peaty.

His mental health struggles were under the spotlight for quite some time. This top-notch athlete even sacrificed his one true love, swimming, for taking care of his mental health. However, it was one of the reasons behind his poor mental health. After 19 months of extreme struggle, the swimmer came back to his first race of the season in the 2023 Swimming World Cup and has now discussed about the things that made him strong enough to be back.

The reason behind the comeback of English swimmer Adam Peaty

Adam Peaty is one of the greatest swimmers of all time and his record in the swimming realm is outstanding. He is also a triple Olympic gold-medal winner. He came in touch with his mental health issues a long time ago but took the decision to take a step back for himself in March 2023. He withdrew his name from racing as he was battling depression, anxiety, ADHD, and many other issues.

One of the reasons behind him facing such serious problems was his urge of winning, the massive competitiveness that he felt while racing. However, he made a comeback in the 2023 Swimming World Cup and the spectators went aback after seeing no extreme urge of pursuit in him. His presence there after a huge mental downfall was a win in itself.

According to Archive news, new positive and philosophical tattoos were seen on the swimmer’s body stating, “Into the lights”. To get himself back on track, the swimmer started going to church as he felt it was the missing part. Australian swimmer Kyle Chalmers helped Peaty in this step and also introduced him to Ashley Null who is an American theologian. After this, he was a completely new person. Acknowledging his spiritual side has helped him in attaining peace and being calmer, which brought him back to swimming.

Adam Peaty’s reason behind his mental health issues

The comeback Adam Peaty has made is exceptional. His coach Mel Marshall was with him in his darkest period of time. With the pandemic hitting the world, things started to go haywire for the English swimmer. Six months earlier, Peaty was on a self-destructive spiral that affected him in his personal and professional life as well.

With his broken foot, he dealt with multiple defeats. He also went through heartbreak after breaking up with Eiri, his long-time girlfriend and the mother of his son, George. After this, he also left his training squad at Loughborough, and expressed about swimming, that, “I have come to hate the thing I Love.” 

Read more: Tragic Swimming Accident Claims Life of 14-Year-Old Boy in Cork

Mental health issues can be a huge thing to handle. However, the graceful way in which Adam Peaty has taken him out of this dark pit is worth appreciating. his admirers are waiting for him to bounce back in his true form but not at the cost of his mental health.

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