REBECCA Adlington believes she will have to be in recordbreaking form if she is to add the World Championship crowns to the Olympic titles she claimed in Beijing last year.
The 20-year-old won the 400metres and 800m freestyle last summer, the latter in a world record time, and will attempt to repeat her success at the World Championships in Rome this month.
Adlington’s Great Britain team-mate, Jo Jackson, held the world record until last weekend, when Italian Federica Pellegrini reclaimed it.
The race promises to be one of the highlights and the Mansfield swimmer is in no doubt it will take a world record to win.
She said: ‘‘Definitely (in) the 400. The rest of the world is on fire as well, the 400 is so close anyway.
‘‘It was close in Beijing. It is such a good field you have to swim amazingly well to make the final, never mind medal in it. The 800 as well, Jo (Jackson) has come into the 800.
‘‘(Olympic silver medallist) Alessia Filippi is there and (Camelia) Potec is going in fastest, not myself, so I definitely think that is going to be a challenge.’’ Adlington’s life has transformed since this time last year, when few people outside swimming had heard of her, and she admits it took time to adjust.
‘‘It was very hard when I came back, I didn’t know what to do,’’ she added.
‘‘I was out of my element. I wasn’t used to it, I think I was just a bit overwhelmed.
‘‘Now I think I’ve got used to it a little bit more, I’ve just got a little bit more confident in myself. I’ve organised it a lot more.’’ Adlington also acknowledges her success will be one of the differences as she approaches the worlds.
‘‘Going to an Olympic Games I was a lot more excited – it was my first Olympics and my first major meet. I was an excited teenager.
‘‘This year it is different going in. People have heard of me, which is going to be a massive difference, but I think it is going to be a completely different competition, especially being outdoors, and in Italy the swimmers are unbelievable.
‘‘Being on home ground they are going to be the ones to beat.’’ As regards her own preparation, Adlington said: ‘‘After Olympic year it’s the best it can possibly be, especially after such a good Olympics.
‘‘When I got back into training it was very hard, I’m not going to lie, it was very hard to cope with, but I managed to do it.
‘‘I did get ill in February, but those things happen.
‘‘You have to deal with it, and after the trials in March I did feel I had a lot more work to do and I think I’ve got back down to the point now where I was before Beijing so, hopefully, I can equal the time I did there.’’ As well as Adlington and Jackson, there are a number of other female medal prospects, including Hannah Miley, Ellen Gandy and Gemma Spofforth, something Adlington welcomes.
‘‘The men have been in the lead for a long time; now it’s the girls coming back. We’ve been brought up through swimming, believing in ourselves.”
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