Adam Peaty is an all-time great and the fastest breaststroke swimmer of all time, but in his heart, he is a racer.
There is nothing more the 2016 Olympic champion likes doing than going head-to-head with the best in the world and coming out on top.
He did that in his semi-final of the 100m breaststroke in Tokyo, cruising through in the fastest qualifying time as he touched home in 57.63, while compatriot James Wilby qualified in sixth in a time of 59-flat.
Peaty is on track to become the first British swimming medallist at these Games and he warned that he is ready for a scrap.
He said: “I love to race, I’m a scrapper, when it comes down to the last 15, I know I’ve got something that no one else has got.
“I know tomorrow it could go either way. It could be a 57.6, it could be 56.6, I’ll see what I’ve got. It’s a morning final so I’ll see what the challenges bring with that as well.”
The first morning of finals at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre saw a few surprises, and some heartbreak for Max Litchfield.
In 2016, aged 21, Litchfield finished fourth in his maiden Olympic final, frustrating but a good omen for what was to come.
Unfortunately for Litchfield, history repeated itself in Tokyo, just 0.21 seconds separating him from the medals as he once again finished fourth in the 400m IM.
Job done for @adam_peaty and @jameswilby 🏊
— Team GB (@TeamGB) July 25, 2021
They move into the men's 100m breaststroke final.#TeamGB pic.twitter.com/lXqqo45yLf
In the women’s equivalent, Aimee Willmott bowed out of the sport with seventh spot, matching her efforts in Rio.
It was an emotional race for the three-time Olympian, who had originally planned to retire in 2020 before the Games were pushed back a year, with the tears flowing afterwards.
She said: “It's not sad tears, it's overcoming emotion. I just wanted to get out there and enjoy myself and it was so much fun.
“I just knew I had to come back in this morning and give it everything that I had. That was all I had left.”
In the final race of the morning, the quartet of Anna Hopkin, Abbie Wood, Lucy Hope and Freya Anderson lowered the British record for the second time in 24 hours, finishing in fifth in the final of the 4x100m freestyle relay behind a world record set by Australia.
It was a promising start to the meet for the quartet, all of whom are making their Olympic debuts in Tokyo.