IT WAS the night the boy became a man. A superman.
At 21, Adam Peaty came of age here in Rio.
And he did so in a manner - and in a speed - that no mere mortal should be capable of.
Certainly not a Brit. Certainly not a Brit who famously used to be scared of water.
It is amazing to think now that Peaty used to be too terrified as a toddler to even have a shower.
But the Staffordshire swimmer has done a lot of growing up since then.
None more so than in the last four years.
A 17-year-old Peaty did not qualify for London 2012, having failed to even progress past the semi-final stage at the national championships.
Instead, when the Games were on, he admitted he was about "to go out and get drunk in a field”.
But then, scrolling through his phone, he spotted his pal Craig Benson had made it to the semi-finals of the 100 metres breaststroke - his own favoured event.
It was then that Peaty thought, ‘I want a bit of that’.
It was the lightbulb moment that brought about his world-record breaking golden moment.
The party boy became the history boy - the first British man since Adrian Moorhouse in 1988 to win in an Olympic pool.
And now Peaty is even ready to stop being a mummy’s boy… by moving out of his parents’ house!
He grinned: “I will definitely move into my own place now.
“The only reason I didn’t before was because I thought, ‘Why change a winning formula?’.
“You don’t change a formula one year out before the Olympics.”
He need not worry about such superstitions any more.
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For Peaty is now so far ahead of the rest of his field - his winning time of 57.13 seconds was over one-and-a-half seconds quicker than silver medallist Cameron van der Burgh.
And none of it is down to luck. It is down to the 35 hours he puts in every week - honing his technique and sculpting his Herculean physique.
So nobody is more deserving of the luxury holiday he is planning with his girlfriend Anna Zair.
Peaty revealed: “Coming into the meet, I planned each holiday on how well I did - bronze, silver, gold.
“So gold and world record - that’s the big-boy holiday there!
“I’ve always put a budget on holidays, but this time I want to go somewhere really nice.
“Maybe like the Maldives or somewhere like that, just to relax… even though it’s surrounded by water!”
Peaty knows how important it is to go away and clear his head.
As well as greater maturity, it is the mental side of swimming that has seen him kick on to claim the grand slam of European, Commonwealth, World and Olympic gold.
And Peaty has been particular inspired by a phrase - seemingly derived from 16th century Spanish explorer Hernan Cortes - delivered to him by British Swimming chief Bill Furniss.
He explained: “It hasn’t always been a sweet ride.
“When I was 15, I almost hated racing in finals because I was so nervous.
“It’s almost like I wanted to puke. You think, ‘I just don’t want to do this’.
“But we’ve done a lot of work in training the mind these past couple of years.
“Bill said something really vital to me - he just said ‘Burn the boats’.
“When you are facing this opposition, you’ve got to attack and you’ve got no choice to retreat.
“That phrase is exactly what my coach Mel Marshall said to me before the race and I knew exactly what it meant - get rid of all doubt and then attack with everything you’ve got.”
Peaty has a lot to thank Marshall for. But equally Marshall has a lot to thank Peaty for.
The two-time Olympian was ranked the world's best 200m freestyler heading into Athens in 2004 - but was knocked out at the semi-final stage.
And Marshall said: “If I look back now, I’d say that was my defining moment as a coach.
“I would never have been able to guide him to this if I had not had that experience myself.
“I feel like this, for me, was my Olympic gold.”
Marshall, 34, has worked with Peaty since he was just 14. She certainly backed the right horse.
Starting to sob, she added: “He just had something. He had a sparkle.
"His breaststroke was just something different in terms of the way he swam it.
“He just landed on my doorstep. It went from there.
“He was supposed to win this. It was his destiny."
“Eight years ago, I dreamt of this tonight.”
So did Peaty. So did the entire nation.
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