I used to rely on my ego, but after three years of hell my faith has made me a new man

IF ADAM PEATY was looking for a sign, there it was, screaming back at him.

- Matt Majendie

Sliding into the pew at the Nottingham church where he now returns every Sunday, that first time a little lost and looking for answers, the sermon that day was all about the Olympic Games.

“No one knew I was coming,” he recalls of what has proved a seminal moment. “I was just at the back and I was like, ‘if this isn’t meant for me, then what is?’ I don’t think society has the answers I’m seeking, especially as a young man, and it’s nothing to do with being an athlete.”

For almost the entirety of his career, he had the answers when it came to being the quickest breaststroke swimmer of all time: of how to win on the big days; the Olympic golds; the world titles; and yet there was still a void in his life.

He has talked of the battle he has faced and come out the other side of as “three years of hell”, a time in which he sunk into depression and became reliant on alcohol. Steadily, he has begun to find himself, although he readily admits: “It’s still very hard and it’s still changing slowly.”

The origin of his turnaround began in Melbourne, where he was introduced to Pastor Ashley Null, a currently Berlin-based clergyman who works with a number of elite swimmers. When back in Europe, the pair met up in Nottingham. Peaty then witnessed his poignant first sermon and, as he puts it, “I’ve been there ever since”.

At the Paris Olympics, his faith will be abundantly clear, as people tune in to watch his attempt to seal a hat-trick of 100metre breaststroke titles. On his torso is a large cross with the words ‘Into the Light’ inked beneath it.