The Coach Who Puts People Before Medals | Adam Peaty's Olympic Coach, Mel Marshall

The Coach Who Puts People Before Medals | Adam Peaty's Olympic Coach, Mel Marshall

From The High Performance Podcast by High Performance

May 1, 2026 · 44 min

About this episode

Mel Marshall discusses her coaching philosophy and the importance of prioritizing people over medals.

This week we're revisiting one of the most beloved episodes in High Performance history — our conversation with Mel Marshall, former head coach to Adam Peaty and one of the most compelling thinkers on leadership, coaching and human development we've ever had on the show. Mel went to Athens in 2004 as the world's fastest swimmer in her event. She came home without a medal. From that moment, she built an entirely new philosophy — and went on to coach Adam Peaty to multiple Olympic gold medals from a club pool in Derby with dodgy lane ropes and no gym. In this episode, Mel talks about why people always come before performance. How she builds commitment culture. The art of giving feedback that actually changes behaviour. And the question she plans to ask Adam at the end of his career that has nothing to do with medals. One of the most complete conversations we've had on this show — and one that will stay with you long after it's finished. Heights 👉 Get 20% off your subscription by using Code: HP20 here: https://highpfrmc.com/hpp_heights_au3  Go Henry 👉 Grow their skills and their money at gohenry.com/highperformance with £5 FREE to get started! XTB 👉🏻 To find out more and…

People in this episode

Host: High Performance

Guest: Mel Marshall

Topics covered

  • coaching
  • leadership
  • human development
  • performance culture
  • feedback

Keywords

  • coaching
  • leadership
  • Adam Peaty
  • Olympic gold
  • feedback
  • performance culture

Sponsors

Heights, Go Henry, XTB

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