British Swimming head coach Bill Furniss is confident that Adam Peaty can inspire his fellow athletes to reach the podium at the Rio Olympics next year.
The 20-year-old set a new world record in the 100m breaststroke at the British Swimming Championships in London last week.
Peaty finished the race in 57.92 seconds, while teammate Ross Murdoch touched the wall in 59.1 seconds at the London Aquatics Centre.
"You need a leader in any sport and I don't want to pin that on Adam, but he is an example to everyone in Britain that we can do this," Furniss told Sportsbeat. "That's the important thing there and it was interesting in the same race that Ross Murdoch came in on 59.1 which is a fast time but almost forgotten.
"It was a terrific performance by Murdoch but Adam's race drags everyone up and I think if you look at our breaststroke at present, domestically you can never relax.
"That's the way we want to be and the big swimming nations have that all the time and it's so difficult. That is something that we have got to try to make work for us."
Peaty is expected to lead the GB team at the World Championships in Kazan, Russia this summer.
Danielle Joynson
