Adam Peaty Strictly
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Olympic swimmer Adam Peaty joins Strictly Come Dancing cast

Adam overcame adversity

Adam Peaty was named as a contestant on the new series of Strictly Come Dancing today (Friday August 13).

The 26-year-old swimmer has just returned from a successful stint at the Tokyo Olympics.

He won a gold and a silver medal.

But what else do we know about Adam?

Adam Peaty has swapped the swimming pool for the ballroom of Strictly
Adam overcame a fear of water (Credit: SplashNews.com)

How did Strictly star Adam Peaty overcome his fear of water?

Adam was born in Uttoxeter, Staffordshire in 1994 and as a boy he developed a fear of water.

He became scared to go into the bath because his brothers told him sharks would come up through the plughole to eat him.

Read more: Adam Peaty has swapped the Olympic pool for the Strictly ballroom

When Adam was four-years-old he and a friend took their first swimming lesson, and it was then the youngster conquered his fear.

The rest, they say, is history.

Adam Peaty has swapped the swimming pool for the ballroom of Strictly
Adam won gold at Tokyo (Credit: SplashNews.com)

How did Strictly star Adam start swimming?

By the time he was 12, Adam was already setting records at his local pool.

Although he started off swimming freestyle, the coach at the club – Olympic swimmer Melanie Marshall – was not impressed.

She put him in the slow lane with the girls, but as soon as she saw him swim breaststroke, she noticed something special.

Adam had big feet, big hands and was double-jointed in both the knees and the ankles. This served him in good stead.

However, it wasn’t until he was 17 and after he had watched pal Craig Benson made the semi-final of the London 2012 Olympics that he started to really take things seriously.

Adam Peaty had a new goal.

Adam Peaty has swapped the swimming pool for the ballroom of Strictly
Adam was announced this morning (Credit: BBC)

When did Adam win his first medals?

Adam’s first senior event was at the European Short Course Swimming Championships in 2013, where he achieved personal best times.

Then it was onto the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh a year later, where he won a silver medal in the 50m breaststroke.

He won gold in the 100m breaststroke.

At the 2014 European Championships, he broke the world record in the 50m.

Adam’s meteoric rise continued at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio in Brazil.

After smashing his own world records in the 100m breaststroke, he won gold – the first Team GB gold of the games.

Adam repeated his success in Tokyo, winning another gold and a silver.

Is Adam married?

Adam met partner Eirianedd Munro while training at Loughborough University, and the two welcomed a baby boy – George-Anderson – in September 2020.

Read more: OPINION: Strictly Come Dancing needs to do better than its 2021 line up

He was awarded the MBE in 2017.

Men's 100m Breaststroke Final 🏊🏻‍♂️ | Tokyo Replays

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Nancy Brown
Associate Editor