Lauren Cox Talks About Her Change Of Mindset & Adam Peaty’s Influence Ahead Of British Championships
In the two years since she fell agonisingly short of Olympic qualification, Lauren Cox has become a European champion and British record holder and had a significant change of perspective.
Lauren Cox: Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
In 2023 Cox became the first British woman in seven years to win a medal at a global long-course meet with 50 back bronze at the World Championships in Fukuoka.
A year later she was bereft after finishing second in the 100m backstroke at the British Olympic trials behind Kathleen Dawson where her time was shy of what she needed to book a spot on Team GB for the Paris Games.
It’s a feeling she never wants to experience again and one she recalls when times are challenging.
She said: “I do think back to that moment when I touched the wall and remembered how bad I felt, and for weeks after that how bad I felt. I don’t want to even give myself the slight inkling of having that again, because it’s a lot being out of breath in training, and feeling all that like lactate or whatever but it isn’t as bad as what I felt back in 2024.”
AP Race & Peaty’s Impact
Cox took some time away from the pool and enjoyed the life of a regular 22-year-old. She also joined the AP Race team on their summer tour as they delivered clinics to improve technique to a range of swimmers from young children upwards.
AP Race was founded by Adam Peaty and Ed Baxter in 2019 to help competitive swimmers improve their skills. Since then, it has enjoyed rapid growth and, as well as delivering clinics through Britain and beyond, they also stage the annual AP Race International at the Aquatics Centre in London.
Lauren Cox: Photo Courtesy: Deepbluemedia
Although he was unaware, Peaty had a great influence on Cox who was in a dark place but absorbed all the advice and insight the three-time Olympic champion was imparting to the youngsters at the clinics.
“I obviously was in quite a bad place mentally with swimming,” she said. “But just watching him, how he interacted with the kids, even the advice he was giving the kids and his presentation at the end of the day – I really took on board what he was saying.
“So, it wasn’t even like it was directly to me, but that definitely opened my eyes a bit more and made me want to get back in the pool.”
It set in motion a close working relationship that also includes reaping the benefits of Peaty’s experience over 12 years at the international top table.
“Adam and Ed were interviewing me about missing the Olympics and after I finished speaking and all the cameras were off, he said you need to believe in yourself more and gave me some advice. That really meant a lot to me because when I was younger and still now, I look up to him quite a lot.”
British Record & European Gold
It was at last year’s AP Race International that Cox lowered the British 50 back record to 27.15, slicing 0.04 from Dawson’s 2019 standard.
Two months later at the Singapore worlds, Cox won her 50 back semi from lane eight before finishing sixth in the final, 0.06 off the podium.
Come December last year and the European Short-Course Championships in Lublin, Poland. There she won gold in the 100m backstroke in 56.51 ahead of double continental long-course medallist Maaike de Waard and Nina Holt.
Lauren Cox: Photo Courtesy: Deepbluemedia
It was, she says, a “huge confidence boost,” adding: “It’s done a lot for me mentally. It’s given me confidence around underwaters and turns, which was my weakness, and now I’m just going in a lot more confident after that.”
Cox has just been unveiled as the social media and community executive at Sponza, a brand that connects brands and athletes that was founded by two-time Olympic champion and fellow AP Race ambassador Matt Richards.
Next up are the British Championships which run from 14-19 April at the Aquatics Centre and where qualification for the Commonwealth Games and European Championships is up for grabs.
It’s a far cry from the swimmer who was so desolate two years ago following her Olympic disappointment.
However, it could be that the psychological shift that has followed has brought her to the exact place she’s meant to be.
“I think if I’d have made the Olympics in 2024, I wouldn’t have done all this work that I have done and ultimately I would have fallen short somewhere along the line. But now I’m a lot stronger mentally than I was then.”
