When Sam Williamson took 100m breaststroke gold in 59.17 at the Tollcross International Pool he became the first Australian to win the events since Simon Cowley at Kuala Lumpur 1998.

I remember it well, what with a hotel booking mistep that led to me and my colleagues being housed in the "Palace of the Golden Horses" - and very grand it was, too.

You couldn't really say the same about the 100 breaststroke final today, at least not in terms of the clock, even if the race turned into something of a cliffhanger, and one at that with a twist in the tale, coming here soon on separate file.

Fair to also note that if you take Paris 2024 and almost every other race since, the count of sub-59sec efforts if staggeringly low after several years of Peaty pressure on the pace, first below 58, then 57. Today, the best of the Commonwealth delivered another 59-plus pile-up, just as Paris had.

In lane 4, was Adam Ramsay-Peaty, the double Olympic champion in the 100m with a best of 56.88, while all eyes were also on the Australian and World junior champion on the stroke, Filip Nowacki, of Jersey.

The 18-year-old inflicted a British domestic defeat on Ramsay-Peaty in 59.34 for silver, the first medal in any sport at the Games for Jersey in 36 years, while the double Olympic champion of 2016 and 2021 stopped the clock in 59.65, pride at least saved from the agony of a fourth place by just 0.05sec ahead of Canadian Oliver Dawson.

Ramsay-Peaty, who revealed after the race that he had competed with a broken finger, appeared to be composed as he strolled out to his blocks in his usual professional and self-assured manner but when the whistle blew, he hesitated when it came to climbing on to the blocks.

Not unusual to see swimmers taking big, deep breaths Several deep breaths in and ten blowing its all out as they prepare to race. But this was different because of the hesitation in him. He stared long and hard down the lane, too, and it had the feel of being more ponderous than laser-focused.

Then, from the moment the proverbial 'gun' went off, nothing about his race quite resembled the explosive, flowing, powerhouse Peaty we came to know during a bull run of victories that lasted from 2014 to Tokyo 2021 after a long Covid-delayed five-year Olympic cycle.

Indeed, South African Michael Houlie looked more like Peaty of old on the way out, as he sped to the turn in a lead time of 26.57. No-one looked like Peaty of old on the way home, and Houlie ended up last home.

The win was slower than.both of Peaty's 58sec victories in 2014 and 2018.

If Ramsay-Peaty clearly tightened in the closing 15m or so (after having looked less than himself the whole way) no-one looked too sharp heading into the end wall.

Williamson, the 2024 World 50m champion, who is coached by Craig Jackson at the Melbourne Vicentre Swimming Club, noted it: "Bloody hell, that piano was falling. I think it was that last 10 metres I had every single person behind me back home cheering me on and they were the ones that got me on the wall."

Or so his mind told him at precisely the right moment to do so, regardless of what every single person Down Under was up to when Williamson was handed the moment he became a man who may one day tell his grandchildren that he once beat the great Adam Peaty, albeit in a time more than a second per length slower than the Englishman at his best.

Williamson was gracious in victory, paying plaudits to the hero he beat:

Adam's been a hero of mine for the last 12 years, he has been an inspiration, he has done phenomenal things for the sport and he's shown what is truly possible, so to step up on the blocks next to him and have an opportunity to race him is something that I never take for granted and something I always really look forward to doing. I haven't had many opportunities to race him in the last few years, we've both been dealing with injuries, a few upsets along the way, so just having an opportunity to step up alongside a role model and a hero of mine is incredible."

Nowacki 18, 13 years Ramsay-Peaty's junior and anambassador for Ramsay-Peaty's APRace project, went into the final in Glasgow with the words: "I’ve definitely got a bit of a scrap in me. To be racing one of the best in the world – arguably the greatest breaststroker of all time – is very special to me."

Ramsay-Peaty was "a true role model in the sport," Nowacki added.

"Even in the call room before, he’s just so professional and so zoned in. Being one of the youngsters coming through, it’s very important to look up to people like that. Those senior athletes know what they’re doing. They’ve been in that position many times before and I think it’s important to keep an eye on what he does."

Nowacki will be in Paris at his European senior debut next month when his A-level results come in. He says: "I’m at the Europeans when I get my A level results. I’ve studied maths, economics and physics and I’m just hoping for the best. My mocks weren’t too great so fingers crossed. I want to go to Loughborough", Peaty's old stomping ground with coach Mel Marshall, who now works in Australia, a source of upset for Peaty, who thought sports authorities should have done more to keep her in Britain.

Meanwhile, the Peaty career includes 65 swims faster than Williamson's win today, while even Morgan's opening, impressive as it was, pales by comparison with the World record holder's own top opening gambits.

But not today. Where Peaty would have had the rest chasing from go to gold, he raced in a line with the rest, hardly ahead at any point in the race, his swim resembling that of a swimmer racing in a a heavy training phase: low in the water, Ramsay-Peaty's stroke simply did not flow as we've know it to.

And in that relatively weakened state, the rest sensed their big chance - and took it.

Unhappy with his performance, Peaty will take defeat as he took the loss of gold by just 0.02sec behind old friend and rival Nicolo Martinenghi.

Meanwhile Williamson lapped up media questions, such as what's with the glasses, is there a story behind them or you just like the colour?'

I just like the colour orange, I reckon they look pretty trendy, don't you? Reporter nod - and the next question gets to the stuff with meat on bones:

So 14 months ago, would you have imagined you'd be here right now wearing the medal?

"Fourteen months ago I wasn't walking, I was still in a knee brace, I was on crutches, I couldn't walk, I couldn't do anything by myself, I needed my mum to actually hold me up to have a shower. So just getting up on the blocks tonight took an immense effort and I couldn't be prouder of the team I have behind me that got me there."

How tough was it physically and mentally to come back and win that?

"Physically it was a walk in the park, it was just a lot of hard work, but mentally it was the toughest challenge I've ever had to face. Every single day I wanted to throw in the towel and every single day I wanted to give up, but I knew how far I'd come to get to that point and I knew if I threw in the towel everything that had happened up until then wasn't worth it. It was through the team back in Melbourne, it was all my family and all my friends, their belief in me that kept me going."

Had he been aware of young Nowacki?

" I'll be honest, I think the last 25 metres it's a blur, I didn't really know what was going on, all I knew was the wall was fast approaching and I just got to get my hands on it. How about that moment at the end, that's pretty special, it's like a fairy tale. It is, it is a fairy tale and it's something that the two of us are going to remember forever."