By Giusy Cisale on SwimSwam
There are afternoons when the air inside the Royal Commonwealth Pool feels heavier than usual. Almost electric.
Last Saturday in Edinburgh, the men’s 100 breaststroke final was not just another race to clock. It felt more like a collision.
On one side, a legend: Adam Peaty.
On the other, hunger: Filip Nowacki.
The result sheet will say that Filip touched first, that the board confirmed it. But the truth is somewhere else. It’s in these frames. This is not really about splits or strokes. It’s about something passing from one set of hands to another.
I. The Weight Of The Roar
Adam Peaty, Filip Nowackicredit: Mickaël MalaperMalaper Photography
Before the start, in that strange silence that comes just before everything breaks, past and future share the same air.
On Adam’s shoulder, the lion is not just a tattoo. It’s a memory of a decade where nobody could really get close. You don’t erase that kind of presence. You carry it.
And then there’s the cap.
Just one word: Peaty.
What more would you even need?
Next to him, Filip adjusts his goggles with that almost careless precision of someone who hasn’t yet learned how to fear certain names. Or maybe he just doesn’t want to.
On his cap, a sentence instead: Better than yesterday.
It sounds simple. Almost quiet. But in a race like this, it says everything. Not about who you are – about who you’re trying to become.
Two different ways of standing on the blocks.
Two different times. One lane between them. About to meet.
II. The Gesture That Matters
Adam Peaty, Filip Nowackicredit: Mickaël MalaperMalaper Photography
Water doesn’t lie. It never does. When the touchpad stops, that’s it. No discussion.
And still, what stays is what comes after.
That handshake. That look. Adam’s eyes – tired, but clear. Not defeat. Recognition.
There is something very clean in that moment. No noise, no need to explain anything. Just a champion looking at the one who just beat him, and not stepping away.
Not giving up space. Just… allowing it.
That’s where the sport shows its real shape. Not in the time, but in what survives the time.
III. The Face Of “Now”
Adam Peaty, Filip Nowackicredit: Mickaël MalaperMalaper Photography
And then there is Filip.
That expression you can’t fake. Eyes a bit too bright, like the brain is still catching up with what just happened. That kind of smile that comes out slightly crooked, because it’s still half disbelief.
It’s not celebration yet. It’s realization.
The exact moment when “maybe one day” turns into “it just happened”.
For him, maybe it didn’t start here.
He goes back to the British Championships in 2024, Olympic trials. The 100 breaststroke final. Just before stepping on the blocks,
Adam came over and gave him a fist bump.
A small gesture, almost nothing – but not really.
He had only ever seen him on television. So for him to come up like that, in that moment, changed something. Gave him confidence. Made it all feel real for the first time.
And now he is here. Not watching anymore.
Part of it.
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