Rebecca Adlington won 2 gold medals in Beijing

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Before Beijing last summer, the clock had to be turned back to 1960 in Rome for the last occasion a British woman won a gold medal in swimming at the Olympic Games.

But Adlington did more than repeat the glory of Anita Lonsborough. She won two golds. Firstly she triumphed in the 400m freestyle and her victory in the 800m (in which she had won the World title in Manchester earlier in the year) came with her breaking the oldest world record in the book.

Her time of 8mins 14.10secs beat the old mark held by American Janet Evans which had stood four days shy of 20 years. It was a remarkable achievement for a woman who has shot to the forefront of her sport as the first Briton to win more than one Olympic swimming gold at the same Olympic Games for a century.

Her career began at the Sherwood Swimming Baths in her hometown - a venue that this year is being renamed the Rebecca Adlington Swimming Centre. It is without doubt that she is going to be one of the biggest names in the build-up to London 2012, with her emergence from Beijing taking her from the back pages of the newspapers to the front pages too.