I’ve really enjoyed the swimming World Championships that were held in Rome at the end of last month. It’s been the first major international competition since Beijing and great to our British swimmers out competing in the pool again.
Prior to the championships we asked four times World Champion swimmer Karen Pickering to give us her predictions for where some of the British medals might come from – and it was great to see many of them coming true, including Jo Jackson who left with two silvers and a bronze and also Gemma Spofforth, the only Brit to come home with gold.
Britain came home with six medals in total, five of those from the women, which was a fantastic result, and a solid improvement from Beijing. Ironically one of the only disappointments in the women’s camp was double Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington, who has openly admitted to be struggling with her new found fame and the pressure that goes with it as she had to settle with two bronzes this time round.
It just goes to highlight the immense pressure that is on our elite sports stars, and that even once they get to the top of their game, it doesn’t necessarily get any easier.
If you would like a glimpse into Rebecca Adlington’s life – why not read our exclusive Q&A with her? It’s the first in a series of Speedo sponsored swimming features that we will be running over the next six months, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for more. Just click here.
And make sure you don’t miss the Athletics World Championships to be held this month in Berlin from August 15th-23rd – let’s hope our British women can do as well on the track as they have just done in the pool.
Louise Hudson, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine
