Adam Ramsay-Peaty: Why has his changed name? Explaining Commonwealth Games comeback

Adam Ramsay-Peaty will compete for the first time under his new name at the Commonwealth Games.

The three-time Olympic swimming gold medallist is returning to the pool in Glasgow. He made his comeback earlier this year from a 20-month hiatus and is now looking to add to his Commonwealth medal haul -- but with a new moniker.

Here's everything you need to know...

Why has Adam Ramsay-Peaty changed his name?

Adam Ramsay-Peaty, 31, has become a fixture of the gossip columns since he married Holly Ramsay, daughter of celebrity chef Gordon, in December last year. He changed his surname to incorporate his wife's family name.

"[He's] very inspiring," Ramsay-Peaty told BBC earlier this year about his famous father-in-law.

"I think for him, it's obviously a very different way of life in terms of the business he has to do and the businesses he has to run.

"I take a lot of guidance. I look up to him a lot... in [terms of] sport, he knows the game is the game, that it doesn't lie. But it will humble you and you've got to work hard for those results.

"I know that whatever I learned through sport, those are the skills I can take into the rest of my life as well."

A much-publicised rift with the majority of his family -- over which Ramsay-Peaty has maintained a stoic silence -- has not helped shift the focus back to his lung-bursting exploits in the pool.

Interest in Ramsay-Peaty's private life -- exacerbated by his recent announcement that he and his wife are expecting their first child -- has ensured a tightly-controlled media build-up to a Games in which Ramsay-Peaty is one of the few genuine stars committed to compete.

But Ramsay-Peaty has plenty of inspiration to draw on as he looks to reignite his career at the Games where his world-level career effectively had lift-off when he pipped favourite Cameron van der Burgh to surge to 100m gold in the same city in 2014.

Explaining Adam Ramsay-Peaty's comeback at the Commonwealths

After a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics there were doubts about whether Ramsay-Peaty would retire from swimming. Instead, he signalled his intention to take a break. In 2025, he was omitted from list of 57 athletes supported by Aquatics GB.

But he is back to chase history by becoming the first English swimmer to win four gold medals in a row at the Commonwealths. Ramsay-Peaty made his name at the Commonwealths at Glasgow's Tollcross International Swimming Centre 12 years ago.

"Being selected to represent your country is always an honour and there is something special about a home Commonwealth Games," Ramsay-Peaty said.

"The event also marks a significant milestone in my international career which began in Glasgow 12 years ago at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

"I'm particularly excited to compete in Scotland this summer as I know everyone will come together to make it a brilliant occasion."

Ramsay-Peaty was 19 years old on his Games debut and hit the headlines by beating Van der Burgh, the reigning Olympic and world record holder, to win the 100m and spark eight years of almost total dominance in the event.

Four years later he was pipped by Van der Burgh to lose his four-year unbeaten record in the 50m on the Gold Coast, and in 2022 in Birmingham he won 50m gold but lost his eight-year 100m winning streak when he trailed home in a shock fourth place.

"It'll be my fourth Commonwealth Games," added Ramsay-Peaty. "That's a lot of Commonwealth Games, and each one has presented different challenges.

"They've caught me at different times in my life, with different physical states and injuries. You name it, I've been through it at the Commonwealth Games."

What events will Adam Ramsay-Peaty compete in?

He will race in the men's 100m breaststroke on Saturday July 25, and will defend his men's 50m breaststroke title on Monday July 27.

Ramsay-Peaty shrugged off a bizarre delay to power through to the semi-finals of the men's 100 metres breaststroke event.

Ramsay-Peaty's heat was temporarily halted as he was on the blocks when a lane divider broke off, requiring an official to strip to the waist and enter the pool to reconnect it.

Ramsay-Peaty duly wasted no time in recording the fastest time of the morning, 59.46 seconds, with only two rivals, Australia's Sam Williamson and Filip Nowacki of Jersey, also finishing in under a minute.

"I don't see success as medals anymore," Ramsay-Peaty said. "That's not defeatist and it's not waving the white flag. It's probably the opposite.

"Success for me is coming away from Glasgow knowing I've done absolutely everything I possibly could to finish as high as I can."

Adam Ramsay-Peaty looking ahead to 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles

"The Olympics is the one that excites me," he has said. "That is the one that really gets me out of bed every day, the one I dream of.

"We have to set that path now.

"Two years out, it is about how much racing and experience can we gather to give the best performance in LA."

What are Adam Ramsay-Peaty's Olympic, Commonwealth medals, world records

Olympics

Rio 2016 -- 100 metres Breaststroke, Gold
Rio 2016 -- 4 x 100 metres Medley Relay, Silver

Tokyo 2020 -- Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay, Silver
Tokyo 2020 -- Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay, Gold
Tokyo 2020 -- Men's 100m Breaststroke, Gold

Paris 2024 -- Men's 100m Breaststroke, Silver

Commonwealths

Glasgow 2014 -- 100m breaststroke, Gold
Glasgow 2014 -- 4x100m medley relay, Gold

Birmingham 2022 -- 50m breaststroke, Gold

Current world records

Men's 50-metre breaststroke (25.95 seconds)
Men's 100-metre breaststroke (56.88 seconds)

Commonwealth Games 2026 swimming schedule, medal events

Friday 24 July
Women's 400m Freestyle
Men's 200m
Individual Medley
Women's S13
100m Freestyle Men's S13
100m Freestyle
Women's 200m
Backstroke Women's SM10 200m Individual Medley
Men's S10 100m Butterfly
Women's 4x100m Freestyle Relay
Men's 4x100m Freestyle Relay

Saturday 25 July
Men's 400m Freestyle
Women's 200m Freestyle
Men's 50m Backstroke
Women's 50m Butterfly
Women's S14 200m Freestyle
Men's S14 200m Freestyle
Men's 100m Breaststroke Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Relay

Sunday 26 July
Women's S9 100m Backstroke
Men's S9 100m Backstroke
Women's 100m Breaststroke
Men's 100m Butterfly
Women's 100m Backstroke
Men's 200m Backstroke
Men's 50m Freestyle
Women's 1500m Freestyle
Men's 4x200m Freestyle Relay

Monday 27 July
Women's 400m Individual Medley
Women's 100m Freestyle
Men's SB9 100m Breaststroke
Women's SB8 100m Breaststroke
Women's 100m Butterfly
Men's 50m Breaststroke
Men's 800m Freestyle
Men's 200m Butterfly
Women's 4x200m Freestyle Relay

Tuesday 28 July
Men's S13 50m Freestyle
Women's S13 50m Freestyle
Men's 100m Freestyle
Women's 200m Individual Medley
Men's 400m Individual Medley
Women's 50m Backstroke
Men's 200m Breaststroke
Women's 50m Breaststroke
Women's 800m Freestyle Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay

Wednesday 29
July Men's 100m Backstroke
Women's 200m Breaststroke
Men's 200m Freestyle
Women's 50m Freestyle
Men's 50m Butterfly Women's S9 100m Freestyle
Men's S7 50m Freestyle
Women's 200m Butterfly
Men's 1500m Freestyle
Women's 4x100m Medley Relay
Men's 4x100m Medley Relay

Press Association contributed to this report.