Rebecca Adlington OBE

From age 19, Rebecca became the first British swimmer in over a hundred years to win two Olympic Golds. She is only the second woman to win two Gold medals at the same Games.

Born:
17th February 1989 in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England.

Strokes:
Freestyle

Achievements:

Double Olympic Champion and 4-time Olympic Medallist.

Rebecca's dedication and professionalism in the pool has made her a global superstar and a role model for female athletes around the world. Her drive for success means that she has won a medal in each of the Olympic finals she has swum. A four time Olympic medallist in the 400m and 800m Freestyle, she won two Gold medals in Beijing 2008 and two Bronze medals in London 2012.

Rebecca has also won Gold medals at every other major swimming meet, including the Commonwealth Games, FINA World Championships and European Championships. She was also the first British swimmer to win more than one Gold medal at a single Olympic Games since Henry Taylor in 1908.

Following her success in Beijing, Rebecca was awarded an OBE from the Queen at Buckingham Palace and accepted the Laureus World Sports Awards 'Breakthrough of the Year Award' from Sebastian Coe.

Rebecca has been a British Gas swimming ambassador since 2009. She is passionate about getting people swimming. Rebecca has fronted all of British Gas' free swim initiatives and helped get hundreds of thousands of people back into the pool.

After the Olympics, Rebecca helped to launch the British Swimming Heroes Tour presented by British Gas. This was a special legacy tour to inspire thousands of children to get in the pool after the success of London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

In October 2012, Rebecca joined swimmers Jo Jackson, Ross Davenport and Melanie Marshall in the British Gas sponsored Bike for Africa cycle ride. This charity ride required Rebecca and the team to cycle 280 miles across Zambia raising thousands of pounds for charity.

Rebecca is an ambassador of the Encephalitis Society, a national charity and the only resource of its kind in the world supporting people affected by the illness.