European Championships 2018: Adam Peaty smashes world record in 100m breaststroke final

The 23-year-old clocked 57.00 seconds to extend his four-year winning run in the event, with British team-mate James Wilby coming through to take silver in 58.54s. Russia’s Anton Chupkov (58.96s) won bronze.

"Honestly, I need to keep pinching myself," Peaty told Eurosport. "Hearing that time now… I never thought I would get anywhere near it."

Peaty admitted he had felt disillusioned after suffering a shock defeat over the 50-metre distance at the Commonwealth Games in April, but produced a virtuoso display to brush off any concerns his powers were on the wane.

Indeed, it quickly turned into a race against the clock, with his rivals powerless to stay with him as they squabbled over the remaining medals. Peaty almost dipped further into uncharted territory, but the timer just skipped from 56 to 57 seconds as he shaved 0.13s off his own record set at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Peaty, the only swimmer in history to crack the 58-second barrier, will now turn his attention to the 50m breaststroke.

The nine-time European champion was not the only swimmer to blitz a world record, with Russian 18-year-old Kliment Kolesnikov posting 24.00s in the 50m backstroke final – taking 0.04 seconds off the record set by Peaty's compatriot Liam Tancock in 2009.