Photo: Richard Gillin from St Albans, UK / CC BY-SA 2.0 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
What stays with me about Rebecca Adlington isn't just the double Olympic gold in Beijing, but that she shattered Janet Evans' 800m world record that had stood for nineteen years. That kind of mark doesn't fall by accident; it falls because someone refuses to accept it as permanent. I admire athletes who treat history as something to be rewritten rather than respected from a distance. Coming out of Mansfield to do it makes the story feel grounded and human. Beyond the medals, she's stayed close to the water, and I get the sense her love of swimming always outweighed the scoreboard. A genuinely likeable champion.
Overview
Rebecca Adlington (born 17 February 1989) is an English former competitive swimmer who raced in freestyle events. She won two gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics, in the 400 m and 800 m freestyle events, breaking the 19-year-old world record of Janet Evans in the latter.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Rebecca Adlington
- Name (Japanese)
- レベッカ・アドリントン
- Reading
- れべっか・あどりんとん
- Born
- February 17, 1989 (age 37)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aquarius / Snake
- Origin
- Mansfield, United Kingdom
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- 179 cm
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- swimmer
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Private
Awards & achievements
- Officer of the Order of the British Empire
- 2009 Laureus World Sports Award for Breakthrough of the Year
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Swimmer — see all → · More people from United Kingdom →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.