'Dame' Becky Adlington swims into Olympic pool of fame in Beijing

'Dame' Becky Adlington swims into Olympic pool of fame in Beijing

She left Britain an ordinary teenager little known outside swimming circles and her native Mansfield.

'Dame' Becky Adlington swims into Olympic pool of fame in Beijing
Double delight: Becky Adlington with her two gold medals after winning the 400m and 800m freestyle Photo: PA

She will return a double Olympic champion, a world record-holder and with the tag of being the greatest British swimmer of all time. It's not been a bad week's work for Becky Adlington. Or make that Dame Rebecca, as she will now surely be known.

On a remarkable day in the Water Cube, Adlington went to her starting block for the final of the 800m freestyle just minutes after Michael Phelps had equalled Mark Spitz's record of seven gold medals. By the time the 19-year-old had finished, 8min 14.10sec later, she had carved out her own piece of Olympic history.

Not only did she win her second gold medal of the Games following her 400m victory on Monday, she did so by annihilating the longest-standing world record in swimming – the 8min 16.22sec set by American Janet Evans in Tokyo 19 years ago.

It was not so much a race as an exhibition of strength and technique by the youBritwatch on 'Super Saturday' ng Briton. Adlington was never threatened and by the halfway mark she was so far ahead that she knew it was all but over.

What she was not aware of was the incredible pace she was setting and that the record she had dreamed of breaking one day was within her grasp.

"I can't believe it has happened," she said. "I obviously knew when I touched that I had won, and that was a great thing because I was just going for gold. But I didn't expect that record at all, and especially not by that much. It's just unbelievable."

No British swimmer has ever won two gold medals at an Olympic Games in the modern era, and only middle-distance runner Dame Kelly Holmes has won two individual golds in the same Games in any sport.

While David Wilkie's world record-breaking victory in the 200m breast-stroke in Montreal in 1976 bears comparison as the greatest British swim of all time, Adlington's coach, Bill Furniss, was in no doubt about the enormity of her achievement.

"This has been an awesome Olympic Games," he said. "It's been frighteningly fast. But up there with all of it, that has got to be one of the all-time great swims. It's such a magnificent record and to take it down by so much is incredible. She just destroyed it."

Adlington said: "The record has always been a goal of mine but I never expected it at this moment in time. It's always been in the back of my mind and to do it now and to break it by that much hasn't quite sunk in yet."

Although the 800m was the stronger of her two events, Adlington admitted she had been so racked by nerves in the race build-up that she had to lie down beside the warm-down pool to avoid being sick. But the anxiety disappeared as soon as she hit the water and she started to execute her race plan, remembering to keep her stroke long and smooth.

"I knew I had to go out fast and be ahead and try to work off that lead," she said. "After the first 400 I thought, 'Gosh I'm only halfway through, I've got another one of them to go'.

"I just said to myself, 'Put your head down and go'. When I got to 500 or 600 I started to think, 'Oh my gosh, it's not over yet'. It just hit me how fast I had gone out there. I was tired but I just had to keep with it."

Adlington was watched by her parents, Steven and Kay, who had missed their daughter's first gold medal after falling victim to an online ticket scam. Her mother was crying as Adlington powered through her final 100m and both parents were in tears when she went to celebrate with them in the public stands after her race.

"They were so pleased, they were crying their eyes out," said Adlington. "I was saying to them, 'Don't cry. It's a good thing. This is a happy day'."

Furniss said her victory was down to her capacity for hard work in the training pool and, above all, her winning mentality.

"Some swimmers have physical talent but she's got a psychological talent as well," he said. She's got an inner strength. She just hates to lose and she's driven. Absolutely driven.

"She was really nervous today but I told her that it was just her and her body getting ready for what she had to do. There are a lot of swimmers who can stand on a block and, under the most intense pressure, they just crack. There are a few swimmers who stand on block and they get better, and she's one of those. That's her main talent. She's just a winner."