Adam Ramsay-Peaty concluded the European Aquatics Championships in Paris with a fifth-place finish in the 100m breaststroke final, marking his first defeat at the event.
Olympic champion Nicolo Martinenghi of Italy secured the gold medal with a time of 58.58 seconds. Ivan Kozhakin finished second, and Simone Cerasuolo, also from Italy, took third.
Ramsay-Peaty, 31, touched the wall in 59.10 seconds, just 0.01 seconds behind Great Britain teammate Filip Nowacki, who finished sixth. This marked the first time Ramsay-Peaty had been beaten in any heat, semi-final, or final at a European Aquatics Championships, where he has won 16 gold medals.
His performance comes after a disappointing Commonwealth Games last month, where he won two bronze medals. "Nothing makes sense" had been his sentiment following that competition. However, his time in Paris was 0.55 seconds faster than his Commonwealth Games showing, where he was notably beaten by 18-year-old Nowacki, who had made history for Jersey by winning gold in the 200m breaststroke in Glasgow.
Later in the championships, Ramsay-Peaty contributed to Great Britain's mixed 4x100m medley relay team, swimming an impressive 58.9 split for the breaststroke leg. The team ultimately finished fourth.
In other events at the championships, Great Britain's Katie Shanahan dominated the women's 200m backstroke, winning gold by 1.49 seconds with a time of 2:06.13. Shanahan, 22, had won silver in the same event at the 2022 European Aquatics Championships in Rome.
Additionally, Angharad Evans, 23, set a new championship record in the women's 100m breaststroke semi-final with a time of 1:04.97.