Peaty on the podium at Berlin World Cup leg

The three-time Olympic champion was making his return to racing action at Berlin's SSE for the first time in seven months after a break from competition to focus on himself away from the arena this year. He lined up in both the 50m and 100m Breaststroke events. 

Adam's journey to each of the three World Cup legs in Germany, Athens and Budapest is part of his goal of "continual improvement" - and an improvement from heats to final helped him secure 50m Breaststroke bronze on Saturday. 

His characteristic power and swim speed saw him move through the gears to the wall for a fast finish and touch for third, behind China's Qin Haiyang in gold and Arno Kamminga of the Netherlands in silver.

"It's a much better improvement on the morning swim, and I guess this "comeback" is more of a testament to the challenge I've got in the race. It's a metaphor for life - you don't stop when it gets hard," he said.

"It's great to have people like this racing all around the world, pushing me. For me, as I've said, it's not about the medals, it's about continually improving, continually finding the best and continually learning. 

"As soon as I stop learning and as soon as the joy stops, I said I was done - and I'm still learning 18 years on. It's an absolute pleasure to race the best in the world - Qin is amazing, I've been racing Arno for quite a while now and this season is going to be epic." 

Earlier in the meet, Peaty finished sixth in the 100m Breaststroke final as he builds towards the Athens event this weekend (13th-15th October). 

City of Manchester athlete Jamie Ingram placed 18th in the 100m Butterfly contest and was 24th in the 50m Butterfly. He is also set to compete in the remaining Athens and Budapest legs of the World Cup.