Tokyo Olympics: Team GB’s Adam Peaty and US rival Caeleb Dressel are to settle medley duels

You had not forgotten him had you? Following the freestyle medal frenzy of the last few days, even the great Adam Peaty had been somewhat upstaged.

But the man who sparked Team GB’s gold rush in the pool — and their emergence as a new swimming superpower — is now back in action and hungry to make more history over the weekend.

On Monday Peaty became the first British swimmer to defend an Olympic title when he won the 100metres breaststroke. For the next two days, though, he was cheering from the stands as Tom Dean and Duncan Scott delivered a Team GB one-two in the 200m freestyle, then together with James Guy and Matt Richards won the 4x200m freestyle relay. 

However, a great showman like Peaty does not stay away from centre stage for long. And he reminded everyone that he has unfinished business here in the heats of the mixed 4x100m medley relay on Thursday.

The team of Kathleen Dawson, Peaty, James Guy and Freya Anderson qualified quickest for Saturday’s final in a time of 3min 38.75sec — a European record and just 0.34sec off China’s world best. Now Peaty will fancy them to win the inaugural Olympic event.

Should they pull that off, Peaty will then be in line to make it a golden hat-trick on Sunday. Only Henry Taylor — a swimmer in the early 1900s — and cyclists Sir Chris Hoy and Jason Kenny have managed to strike gold three times for Team GB at the same Olympics.

But Peaty, Guy, Scott and Luke Greenbank are world champions in the 4x100m medley relay and victory would crown British swimming’s glorious Games.

Standing in Peaty’s way is the towering figure of Caeleb Dressel. The fellow tattoo enthusiast leads the USA team in both the mixed and men’s medleys.

‘Never say never,’ said Peaty about his history mission. ‘If there’s one thing I’ve had over these last 18 months that’s not been taken away from me, it’s belief. I love doing the relays. It’s a very powerful thing, racing with team-mates you’ve been racing with for a long time. We’ve got unity but also a brotherhood. We’re going to give the relays absolutely everything.’

It is a sign of these crazy times that Team GB failing to add to their medal haul in the pool on Thursday came as something of a disappointment. Yet they remain on course to break their record tally from a Games — the seven won at London 1908.

‘The Peaty effect’ has been credited with sparking the turnaround in the country’s fortunes in the water. But Peaty said: ‘Over the last six years, the culture and the ethos and everything we live by has evolved into something that is idolised by other teams.

‘It was great to get that to a rolling start with a gold medal in the 100m on the second day. But what those other guys did is just remarkable. It just shows you that British swimming is really going from strength to strength.’