Great Britain's Adam Peaty breaks world record in 100m breaststroke at Rio 2016
Peaty finished his heat on Saturday with a time of 57.55 seconds, improving on his own record
(Photo: Getty Images/Adam Pretty)
Adam Peaty of Great Britain has lowered his world record in the 100m breaststroke heats at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
He qualified first in 57.55 seconds Saturday afternoon (6 July) at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium, lowering his previous mark of 57.92 set in London on 17 April 2015.
"I went out pretty fast, quite easy, came back and I heard everyone cheering and I thought, what are they cheering for, there's no Brazilians in this lane?" Peaty said.
Peaty and 15 other swimmers moved on to the evening semi-finals.
Peaty could not understand why the crowd were cheering (Photo: Getty Images/Clive Rose)
"It was great to get out there and enjoy the crowd and become an Olympian," Peaty said. "My first Olympic Games and I'm just excited to race."
The 21-year-old admitted it was unusual to break a world record in preliminary rounds but said he had decided to harness the adrenalin of competing at his first Olympic Games.
"I wasn't even pumped up in the call room. But as soon as I walked in, it was either fight or flight and I chose to actually get something out of it. You can either be shy of the arena or take advantage of it."
