She is Olympic gold medallist Adam Peaty’s biggest fan.
Advertisement
He completed the first 50m in 26.61, 0.08 under world record pace and a storming second length saw him enhance his advantage to win in a time even quicker than he had imagined.
“But for now I’m going to enjoy it and get the relay done and deliver another good performance for Team GB”.
He said: “Coming up to the Worlds previous year I was a bit anxious and I wasn’t aware what is was going to be like to compete on the world stage”.
The time difference from Brazil meant that most of the country was asleep while Adam swam to victory.
The 21-year old finished more than a second and a half clear of the field with Cameron van der Burgh (RSA) who won silver and Cody Miller (USA) who won bronze.
At Athens 2004, Marshall had headed into the Games ranked world number one in the 200m freestyle event but then failed to make the final – although she admits that experience has helped mould not only her as a coach but Peaty’s elevation to the top.
The swimmer broke a second world record with a time of 57.13 seconds.
Peaty has been working hard on improving his dive to match the explosive finish which had already earned him European, World and Commonwealth gold medals.
Adam joked about his grandmother’s soaring popularity, saying: “It took me so long to get 3,000 followers on Twitter and she got it overnight”. “I came out tonight and took the first 50 easy and came back with everything I have got”.
“I feel like this, for me, was my Olympic gold”.
“There were so many situations – I had just come out of an elite sport from Beijing and retired – and he had just landed on my doorstep and it went from there”.
“You never put a limit on anything”.
“To see someone who’s your teammate achieve a new world record and becomes Olympic Champion right before you swim definitely got me pumped up”.
“I knew this arena would be absolutely flawless for me”, said the Briton, whose parents were in the audience shedding tears of delight.
“As a child he was scared of water”.
Advertisement
“I’m very excited for when he comes home, and exhausted. That’s what I love to do”.
