Rebecca Adlington has navigated life beyond the pool with the same determination and focus that brought her Olympic glory. Since retiring from competitive swimming in 2013, the double gold medallist has forged a varied career in broadcasting, advocacy, and family life.
00:00Rebecca Allington has navigated life beyond the pool with the same determination and focus
00:07that brought her Olympic glory. Since retiring from competitive swimming in 2013, the double
00:14gold medalist has forged a varied career in broadcasting, advocacy and family life.
00:20She's become a familiar face on BBC Sport, providing commentary at major events,
00:25including the Paris 2024 Olympics, where her emotional reaction to Adam Peaty's silver medal
00:30reflected the depth of her connection to the sport.
00:35So Becky, just tell us a little bit about the campaign you're involved with and how it sort of resonates with you personally.
00:43Yeah, well, straight away for me, I think you can just naturally relate when you're a parent.
00:48It's one of those that we've all been there. Sleep is the most precious thing in the world.
00:54I think in general, let alone when it's just then you're becoming a parent.
00:59And so I connected with it straight away. And I thought just, A, I'm an EV driver.
01:06So I have been for the past five years. And Albie, my little boy, has never known anything other than an electric car.
01:14So I guess in that sense, it works.
01:17Her sporting achievements remain extraordinary. At the Beijing Olympics in 2008,
01:23she claimed both the 400 metre and 800 metre freestyle,
01:27becoming Britain's first female Olympic swimming champion since 1960 and setting a world record in the 800 metres.
01:34She followed this with bronze medals in the same events at the 2012 London Games,
01:38cementing her status of one of Britain's finest swimmers.
01:42From a very small town. So in Mansfield, we, there wasn't much to do, but we had two swimming pools.
01:49And we were very, very lucky because I do know a lot of places across the UK don't have access to a swimming pool.
01:56And yet we had, we actually had a few. So we were very, very fortunate in that aspect.
02:00So it became the thing that we did as a family. It was at weekends, we would go swimming.
02:05I wanted my birthday parties at the swimming pool. It just became a lifestyle thing for just the family.
02:13My sisters both swam and trained. They both stopped when they were mid-teens, but I carried it on.
02:20So, yeah, they were really supportive. They got it. Like they were just, yeah, my biggest cheerleaders.
02:25And I mean, every time I speak to a former Olympian, et cetera, Team GB representative,
02:33we always talk a lot about London 2012, the home games, how special it was, not just for, you know, Team GB doing so well,
02:40but they sort of brought so many female role models to the front and yourself was one of them, you know, Jess Ennis.
02:47And the list goes on and on. That games was so special.
02:50So what can you sort of reflect on, on London 2012, how good it was and how much of a sort of milestone it was for women in sport as well,
02:58to change the sort of way people looked at women and these role models now as well?
03:03Yeah, I think we really needed it at that period.
03:06I think it really brought, it brought the country together, if I'm being totally dramatic about it, because it really did.
03:14And I think there was a bit of negativity around it beforehand, going, the traffic's going to be a nightmare, nothing's going to be finished.
03:21And there's always this negativity and then it happens and it's incredible.
03:26So it was so great to highlight these sports as well that you didn't know much about.
03:31Like I got watching BMX and all these, like these sports that you go, I've never watched all them before.
03:39And then all of a sudden you're like, I love BMX and I love these sports and I love watching diving and these things that aren't on telly all the time.
03:48And that's what it was really about.
03:50And that's what every Olympics is about.
03:51And it's fantastic to showcase because it does pull in.
03:55I think if you're an avid sport fan, you will watch all the sports all the time, whereas the Olympic Games, that's what's really special about it, because people outside of sport watch.
04:06And then actually they start to go, well, actually, I'm going to get active or I'm going to do this.
04:10And it just then flows.
04:12And it's a very powerful thing, the Olympics.
04:15In her personal life, she has embraced motherhood and recently announced her third pregnancy, describing it as a small miracle after previous losses.
04:25Through her advocacy, media work and resilience in both sports and family, Addington continues to inspire.
04:33Her journey from Olympic champion to role model shows how she has adjusted to life beyond the pool while maintaining the same dedication that brought her global acclaim.
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