Rebecca Adlington
DOB: 17/02/1989 Event: Swimming Residence: Nottingham Flag: GBR
Last Updated: 09/03/12 4:43pm
Commonwealth, European, World and Olympic champion, Rebecca Adlington, has been the golden girl of British swimming since her amazing performances at the 2008 Olympic Games.
The Mansfield-born athlete is strong favourite for gold in the pool at the London Aquatics Centre this summer in her two events - the 400 metres and 800m freestyle.
Having learnt to swim when she was just four, Adlington took up the sport to follow her two elder sisters and began competing for Sherwood Collery in her home town. She began with relays when she was aged nine, moving on to individual races when she turned 10.
The 23-year-old's development in the water went from strength-to-strength, and she finally became a household name after her success in Beijing.
She won gold in the 400m freestyle before going on to claim a second title in the 800m, clocking a world record time of 8.14.10.
In doing so, Adlington became Britain's most successful swimmer in the Olympics in over 100 years, while she was Britain's first Olympic champion in the pool since 1988 and the first to win two Olympic golds since 1908.
Coached by Bill Furniss, the Nova Centurian has picked up numerous titles since the Games, including in 2010 when she won at the Commonwealths to add to her 400m and 800m freestyle golds.
In 2011, Adlington won her first World Championship silver medal in the 400m freestyle in Shanghai, before becoming Great Britain's first ever freestyle swimming world champion by taking the 800m title.
For Adlington, 2012 already looks set to be a year to remember and she is definitely one to watch as the Olympic countdown gets underway.
