ADAM Peaty, Britain's fastest ever 100m breaststroke swimmer, has repaid the faith invested in him by coach Mel Marshall.
And he could pay a double dividend tonight when he is one of the favourites for the final of the 50m event.
Peaty stormed to Commonwealth Games gold for England in the final of the 100m at Glasgow's Tollcross pool in a thrilling race on Saturday.
And the City of Derby star became the first Briton to beat the 59 seconds barrier as he touched in 58.94 to beat South African Cameron van der Burgh by 0.34 seconds. Scotland's Ross Murdoch took the bronze medal.
Now the 19-year-old from Uttoxeter has the opportunity to make it double gold after booking his place in tonight's final of the 50m breaststroke after qualifying in yesterday's semi finals.
A further opportunity for a medal could present itself in tomorrow's 4x100m medley relay.
City of Derby's head coach Marshall was overjoyed with the success of the swimmer whose career she has guided for the last six years.
Marshall, one of England's coaching staff at the Games, said: "The tears were flowing. I'm going to savour the moment for many years.
"Dreams can come true. I'm so proud of him."
Marshall, who joined the Derby club after calling time on her own illustrious career during which she competed at Olympic, World, Commonwealth and European level, also posted on Facebook: "Six years a go, a 14-year-old boy walked through my door and we took a journey.
"Right from the start I believed in him 100%, had no doubts.
"Six years on, I get to stand and watch him as a young man become a Commonwealth champion, watch him handle the pressures of competition and embrace the possibility of failure.
"As I watched him hug his mother it was in that moment I felt elation.
"We dared to dream, we never gave in and six years later we realised dreams can come true. Put people before performance and performance takes care of itself.
"Proud to say I coach one of the only five men to go under 59 for the 100m breast, proud to say I am coach of a Commonwealth champion.
"But more proud to say I helped shape a young man to be more than just a great swimmer but a great person."
Peaty, a Derby College student, produced a series of outstanding swims after finishing fourth in the 200m breaststroke final, won by Murdoch, on Thursday.
The sequence in the 100m brought him three Games and two British records.
He was already the holder of the British record, having set the standard at the recent Mare Nostrum meeting in Barcelona.
The record-breaking continued yesterday as he beat his own 50m British mark – set in the French leg of the Mare Nostrum – in the heats of the 50m event.
Peaty can now look forward to the European Championships to be held in Berlin late next month and the World Championships in Qatar at the end of the year.
pwatson@derbytelegraph.co.uk
