Commonwealth Games: Adam Peaty uses a fear of failure to drive him on

Marshall, who still oversees Peaty’s progress in her role as the National Lead Centre Coach at Loughborough, said the Australia trip was just one part of a complicated journey building up to the Olympic Games in 2020.

Planning has to be meticulous for the top swimmers, with a hectic year of competition taking Peaty and co to within two years of Tokyo.

“The British Championships were an interesting meet this year because our focus is the Commonwealth Games and primarily the European Championships,” Marshall explained.

“But the Commonwealth Games is where Adam was ‘born’.

“It was his first ever win at a major championships and he should go there and absolutely embrace that environment and look at where he has come in the past four years and see if he can demonstrate again what is he great at.”

The signs are good. His times in once again winning the 50m and 100m breaststroke British titles were better than expected for the this stage of the season.

“From Adam’s perspective I couldn’t be happier,” Marshall added.

“He has had a really hard winter block; he has lifted really well in the gym and his nutrition and every little tool – it’s like a Formula 1 car and every kind of part in terms of his wheels, his engine – it is all in really good shape.”

Any event, any race – no matter what the timing and how it fits in with his schedule and the bigger picture – tends to awaken Peaty’s fierce competitive streak. Much of that can be traced back to the fear factor of not being the best.