Rebecca AdlingtonOBE (born 17 February 1989) is an English former competitive swimmer who specialised in freestyle events in international competition. She won two gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics in the 400-metre freestyle and 800-metre freestyle, breaking the 19-year-old world record of Janet Evans in the 800-metre final. Adlington was Britain's first Olympic swimming champion since 1988, and the first British swimmer to win two Olympic gold medals since 1908.[2] After winning her first World Championship gold over 800 metres in 2011, along with silver in the 400 metres at the same meet, she won bronze medals in both the women's 400-metre and 800-metre freestyle events in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Adlington is one of the few people to have won Olympic Games, World Championships, European championships and Commonwealth Games gold medals.
On 5 February 2013, Adlington retired from all competitive swimming at the age of 23.[3] Since retiring as a competitor, she has worked for BBC TV as a swimming pundit at the Olympic Games and World Aquatics Championships, and made various other media appearances. Adlington is also one of a number of former sports stars behind a commercial group dedicated to providing coaching and leisure outlets.
Early life and education
Rebecca Adlington was born on 17 February 1989 in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, where she attended The Brunts School.[4] In 2009, she was one of 94 from "the world of aquatics" to benefit from the Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence award (AASE), intended to recognise potential elite athletes with the opportunity for integrated academic achievement whilst continuing with training for competition.[5]
Adlington started swimming with Sherwood Colliery Swimming Club,[6] and was selected for the Nottinghamshire County Elite Squad (Nova Centurion Swimming Club).[7][8][9] She swam in local swimming leagues for Nottingham Leander Swimming Club, having taken part in the National Speedo 'B' Final in May 2010.[10] Adlington's great-uncle was Terry Adlington, former goalkeeper with Derby County.[11] and she is a keen Derby supporter.
Competitive career
Adlington represented Great Britain in the 2008 Summer Olympics, competing in the 400-metre freestyle and 800-metre freestyle events. She was also scheduled to swim in the 4×200-metre freestyle relay but was rested in the heat and the team failed to qualify for the final. In the heats of the 400-metre freestyle, she broke the Commonwealth record with a time of 4:02.24.[12] On 11 August 2008, she won an Olympic gold medal in the same event, with a time of 4:03.22, overtaking Katie Hoff of the United States in the last 20 metres.[13] She was the first woman to win swimming gold for Great Britain since Anita Lonsbrough in 1960.[14] She was the first British swimmer to win more than one gold medal at a single Olympic Games since Henry Taylor won three in 1908.[15]
In 2009, Adlington said she suffered with the expectation placed on her ahead of the World Aquatics Championships in Rome, and although she swam a personal best she won only bronze in the 400-metre freestyle. She added a second bronze in the 4×200-metre freestyle. In her favourite event, the 800-metre freestyle she gained fourth place.
In 2010, Adlington won the 400-metre freestyle at the European Swimming Championships in Budapest but again failed to win a medal in her favoured 800-metre freestyle, finishing seventh. She won bronze as part of the 4×200-metre freestyle relay team.
At the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi, she won a "bonus" bronze medal in the 200-metre freestyle, and was part of the English record setting 4×200-metre freestyle relay team that also won bronze. In the 800-metre freestyle, Adlington led from start to finish to win her first Commonwealth Games gold medal. In the 400-metre freestyle, Adlington won comfortably to earn a second gold medal and repeat her Olympic double. She ended the season ranked No. 2 in the 400-metre freestyle and No. 1 in the 800-metre freestyle.
At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Adlington won bronze in the 400-metre freestyle in a time of 4:03.01.[17] and another bronze in the women's 800-metre freestyle in a time of 8:20.32. After the Games, Adlington said that she would no longer undertake the 800-metre race, and would not compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.[18]
Records set
Adlington set a new British, Commonwealth, European and Olympic record of 8:18.06 in the preliminary heats of the women's 800-metre freestyle on 14 August 2008. She went on to win the Olympic 800-metre freestyle final on 16 August 2008 in a world record time of 8:14.10, her second gold of the tournament, a full six seconds ahead of the silver medallist, and two seconds ahead of the former world record which had been set by Janet Evans when Adlington was 6 months old. At the time, this was swimming's longest standing world record.[19]
Legend: WR – World record;ER – European record;CR – Commonwealth record;NR – British record; Records not set in finals: h – heat;sf – semifinal;r – relay 1st leg;rh – relay heat 1st leg;b – B final;† – en route to final mark;tt – time trial
Recognition
Adlington on an open-top bus outside of Mansfield Town Hall after parading around Mansfield town centre streets in 2008Rebecca Adlington Swimming Centre in November 2017
Adlington was welcomed home to Mansfield in August 2008 by thousands of people who lined the streets to applaud as she passed by in an open top bus and then appeared at a ceremony at Mansfield Town Hall.[20]
In December 2009 she received an honorary Master of Arts degree from the University of Nottingham in recognition of her outstanding contribution to British sport.[26]
The Sherwood Swimming Baths in Adlington's hometown of Mansfield, where she began swimming as a child, was renamed the Rebecca Adlington Swimming Centre when it reopened after refurbishment in January 2010.[27][28] The Yates Bar in Mansfield was renamed the Adlington Arms in her honour.[disputed (for: After a 2022 deletion, prose implies the name is still Adlington Arms)–discuss][29]
In 2013 soon after her retirement from competition, Adlington was named as the inaugural inductee into Nottinghamshire County Council's Roll of Honour.[34]
One of the Class 395 high-speed trains operated by Southeastern, used to provide a 140-mph London-to-Kent link and the Javelin shuttle service for visitors to the 2012 London Olympic Games, was named after Adlington.[35] Several other British Olympians also received this honour.
Adlington was a guest panellist on the ITV lunchtime chat show Loose Women on 25 March, 17 April and 22 May 2014. She was a contestant in Series 3 of The Jump, but withdrew on 7 February 2016 having dislocated her shoulder during training.[38]
Adlington participated in the thirteenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, which began airing on 17 November 2013 and was held in Australia.[39] She finished in 6th place, being voted out by the public on 6 December 2013.
Together with former sports personalities Steve Parry and Adrian Turner, Adlington is part of Total Swimming Group, a commercial group dedicated to providing coaching and leisure outlets. JD Sports bought-in during 2022, acquiring a 60% stake.[40] Subsequent to COVID-19 lockdown and the energy crisis with 2021–2023 global energy crisis, Adlington joined with approximately 200 others forming a pressure group calling for the UK energy subsidy, the energy price cap ending by April 2023, to be continued to help the energy-hungry swimming pools to survive potential closures.[41]
Personal life
In 2005, Adlington's sister was affected by encephalitis, an inflammation of the brain. Her sister recovered over time, but its impact inspired Adlington to say in 2012: "It made me more determined. It makes me train harder".[42] Adlington became an Ambassador of the Encephalitis Society in 2009, to help raise awareness of the illness.[43]
In 2009, comedian Frankie Boyle was censured by the BBC Trust's Editorial Standards Committee for breaching guidelines by using "humiliating and offensive" remarks with "unnecessary innuendo" during a 2008 edition of Mock The Week broadcast on BBC 2, when he jibed at Adlington's appearance. Adlington's mother criticised the BBC for making the ruling public, which had caused her daughter more distress.[44][45][46][47](registration required)[48]
In 2014, Adlington married former swimmer Harry Needs.[49] The couple had a daughter together, born in 2015.[50] In March 2016, Adlington announced her separation from Needs.
On 4 March 2021, Adlington and her boyfriend, Andy Parsons, announced the birth of their son. She announced on 5 September 2021 that the couple had married.[51] In August 2022, she suffered a miscarriage and underwent emergency surgery.[52]
In October 2023, Adlington announced she had a miscarriage and was given the news at the 20 week scan. She gave birth to Harper on 20 October 2023, at Wythenshawe Hospital.[53][54]
Janet Beth Evans is an American former competition swimmer who swam from 1989-1992 for Stanford University and specialized in distance freestyle events. Evans was a world champion and world record-holder, and won a total of four gold medals in the 400 and 800-meter freestyle events at the 1988 and the 1992 Olympics. In the late 1980's Evans was the first woman to hold three world records simultaneously in the 400, 800, and 1500-meter freestyle and was the first American woman to win four individual Olympic gold medals in swimming.
Laure Manaudou is a retired French Olympic, world and European champion swimmer. She has held the world record in freestyle events between 200 and 1500 meter. She is the older sister of Florent Manaudou who is also an Olympic gold medalist swimmer.
Maritza Correia, also known by her married name Maritza McClendon, is a former Olympic swimmer from Puerto Rico who swam representing the United States. When she qualified for the U.S. Olympic team in 2004, she became the first Puerto Rican of African descent to be a member of the U.S. Olympic swimming team. She was the first female African-American swimmer for the United States to win an Olympic medal. She also became the first black American swimmer to set an American and world swimming record.
Kathryn Elise Hoff is a former American competitive swimmer, she is an Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder. Hoff was known for her success in the 200-meter and 400-meter individual medley. She represented the United States at the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2008 Summer Olympics, in which she was awarded a silver medal and two bronze medals.
Anita Lonsbrough,, later known by her married name Anita Porter, is an English former swimmer from Great Britain who won a gold medal at the 1960 Summer Olympics.
Sarah Lucy Hardcastle, also known by her married name Sarah Thomas, is a British former competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain in the Olympics, world championships and European championships, and swam for England in the Commonwealth Games. She specialised in the 400- and 800-metre freestyle, and also competed in medley races. Hardcastle won multiple major championship medals over the course of her career, including individual silver and bronze medals at the 1984 Summer Olympics at the age of 15 and two individual gold medals at the 1986 Commonwealth Games. She retired from the sport in 1986 but returned in 1993, winning gold at the World Short Course Championships for the 800-metre freestyle in 1995 and reaching the final of the same event at the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Henry Taylor was an English competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain in four Summer Olympics between 1906 and 1920. Taylor served in the Royal Navy during the First World War, and continued to swim competitively until 1926. His fortunes declined after he retired, and he died penniless. His record of three gold medals at one Olympic Games – the most by any Briton – stood for 100 years until it was equaled by cyclist Chris Hoy in 2008. Tying the medal count of American Mel Sheppard, he was the most successful athlete at the 1908 Olympics.
Mireia Belmonte García is a Spanish Olympic, world, and European champion swimmer. She is the world record holder in the short course 200 metre butterfly and 400 metre individual medley. Formerly, she held the world record in the short course 400 metre freestyle, 800 metre freestyle, and 1500 metre freestyle. She was the first Spanish woman to win a gold medal in swimming at an Olympic Games and is widely considered to be the greatest Spanish swimmer of all time.
Joanne Amy Jackson is an English freestyle swimmer. She is the sister of retired Olympic swimmer Nicola Jackson. She was born in Northallerton and went to Richmond School, North Yorkshire.
The women's 400 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 10–11 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China. The winning margin was 0.07 seconds which as of 2024 is the narrowest winning margin for this event in the Olympics.
The women's 800 metre freestyle event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 14 and 16 August at the Beijing National Aquatics Center in Beijing, China.
Lauren Marie Boyle is a former competitive swimmer from New Zealand. She has competed at three Commonwealth Games and three Olympic Games.
Jazmin Roxy "Jazz" Carlin is a former British competitive swimmer, who previously represented Wales and the Great Britain swimming team. She competed primarily in endurance freestyle events, and was based at the University of Bath. She won gold for Wales at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, double gold for Great Britain in the 400 metres and 800 metres freestyle at both the 2014 European Championships and the 2015 European Championships before winning two silver medals for Great Britain in the same events behind Katie Ledecky at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
The women's 400 metre freestyle event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 29 July at the London Aquatics Centre in London, United Kingdom.
The women's 800 metre freestyle event at the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on 2–3 August at the London Aquatics Centre based at the Olympic park London.
Oliver William Hynd MBE, known as Ollie, is a British swimmer. He competed in the Paralympics as a class 8 swimmer, having neuromuscular myopathy and associated limb deformities. In 2018, following reclassification protocols, Hynd moved into the S9 class, but remained in SB8 for breaststroke.
Stephanie Millward is a British former Paralympic swimmer.
Susannah Elizabeth Joy Rodgers, is a British Paralympic swimmer. She competes in S7 classification events and won three bronze medals at the 2012 Summer Paralympics and a gold at the 2016 Summer Paralympics.
The women's 800 metre freestyle event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place between 11 and 12 August at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium.
Ariarne Elizabeth Titmus is an Australian swimmer. She is the reigning Olympic champion in the women's 400-metre freestyle, having won the event at the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2024 Summer Olympics and the world record holder in the long course 200-metre freestyle and 400-metre freestyle events. In 2019 and 2020, she competed representing the Cali Condors in the International Swimming League.
↑ More from the Mayor. The big news this week is the announcement of the route the Olympic Torch will take through our District on 28 June. Chad, 21 March 2012, p.10. Accessed 3 February 2022
↑ Olympic flame to light up Mansfield. Chad, 21 March 2012, pp.6-7. Accessed 4 february 2022
↑ "Awards celebrate sporting success". Chad, 20 February 2013, p.28. Retrieved 8 September 2022
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