DOUBLE Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington insists Jo Jackson will be a force to be reckoned with at the London 2012 Olympics – despite dropping back to No.3 in the GB pecking order at the Commonwealth Games.

Jackson looked set to emerge as the new golden girl of British freestyle swimming last year with two silver medals at the World Championships in Rome – both times leaving Beijing Olympic hero Adlington in her wake.

But after struggling with chronic asthma this year Jackson was a shadow of her former self at the Commonwealth Games with Adlington, who claimed double gold in the 400 and 800m freestyle, firmly re-establishing herself as No 1.

And as if that wasn’t bad enough Jackson also was out swum by British teammate Jazmin Carlin in India with the Welsh swimmer claiming two individual freestyle medals.

With Carlin’s medals coming in the 200m and 400m freestyle, races in which Jackson failed to medal in the subcontinent, the event appears to have ushered in a changing of the guard in women’s freestyle swimming.

But Adlington is adamant Jackson should not be written off, insisting the 24-year-old will use Carlin’s emergence to help fire her to London 2012 glory.

“Obviously Jo with her asthma this year has had a really tough year and I felt so sorry for her,” said Adlington.

“I am surprised she was even in Delhi and that she even did any racing after what has all happened but that tells you a lot about her character.

“But for all that has happened I have no doubt that Jo is going to come back fighting next year and she is going to absolute cane it next year and prove to everyone what a great freestyle swimmer she is.

“With Jaz doing so well there are now three of us which means there is great competition for places and Jaz is keeping Jo on her toes.

“But with Jaz showing what she can do it will mean that Jo will be keeping an eye on her and it might actually work in her favour because she might start pushing more herself and it will perhaps bring the best out of her.”

It was not all doom and gloom for Jackson in the subcontinent as she combinined with Adlington, plus Emma Saunders and Sasha Matthews, to claim 4x200m freestyle relay bronze.

And Adlington believes that performance shows that while she might have struggled in the water, her mental strength remains as strong as ever.

“Jo showed a lot of guts to travel to the Commonwealth Games and then to compete and I am so glad she was able to help us win bronze in the 4x200m relay and I was so pleased we could do it for her because she deserves a bit of good fortune,” added Adlington, who is hoping to encourage a new generation of Commonwealth Games champions through the Cadbury’s Spots v Stripes campaign.

“What she is going through is so different to a lot of other swimmers because you might have an illness but then you get over it and recover but that isn’t the case with Jo.

“It is something she has got to get through for a period of time and it is not going to get better overnight and she has shown great patience already with it.”

■ Rebecca Adlington is supporting Spots v Stripes, Cadbury’s campaign to get the nation playing in the run up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. For more information visit www.spotsvstripes.com