Adam Ramsay-Peaty has revealed he struggled at the summer’s Commonwealth Games because he was carrying ‘too much muscle’.
The three-time Olympic champion disappointed in Glasgow, picking up one silver medal and two bronzes despite the high hopes for his participation.
Having worked with experts since to dissect his performances, he came to the conclusion that his body was all wrong in his first major competition since the 2024 Olympics.
‘What I have learned from Europeans and Commonwealths this summer, without going too deep, I had too much muscle,’ he told The Sun.
‘So that’s another thing as well that I’ve been assigned to do – to try and reduce the muscle mass a little bit. Because every stroke you potentially carry another four kilograms, which isn’t ideal over 42 or 43 (strokes) over 100 metres.
‘You look at the power-to-weight ratio. That’s kind of another conversation that we’ll get into later.’
Adam Ramsay-Peaty has revealed he had ‘too much muscle’ during the Commonwealth Games
He was involved in a family feud before his wedding to Holly Ramsay-Peaty last year. Source: Instagram – hollyramsaypeaty
Ramsay-Peaty said at the Commonwealth Games that he had ‘been through s***’ as he broke down after taking bronze in the breaststroke.
‘I’m not crying because it’s bronze instead of gold. I’m crying because I know I am better than that,’ he said. ‘I feel like I couldn’t have put any more in and that’s where it hurts, because I’m like, what’s the point of all the metres every day, what’s the point of being exhausted all the time?
‘What’s the point of having to say no to family events because you can’t go to training? It has to mean something and for me it has to be human excellence and that is not excellence for me. So that’s the emotion that is unfortunately coming out.’
Ramsay-Peaty took a break from swimming in 2023 to focus on his mental health, while he married Holly Ramsay, daughter of celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, in December last year.
He fell out with several members of his family ahead of the wedding, though his sister, Bethany, was among Holly’s bridesmaids.
Holly, meanwhile, was present to support her husband at the Games. She is pregnant, and is due to give birth in December.
Ramsay-Peaty added this week that his team ‘pushed a little bit too far on the load in the pool, especially in the gym, which has really affected the drag profile but also the shapes I can hold under the water’.
He is hoping to qualify for Team GB in 2028, which will be his final Olympics if he can reach the Games in Los Angeles.
