Rebecca Adlington reveals the sacrifices behind her Olympic swimming triumph

It’s a tough life being a competitive swimmer. Throughout my secondary school years, I was getting up at 5am and being driven by my mum to training before and after school, doing my homework in the car before crashing into bed when I got home.

These days I train four hours a day, six days a week, doing 10 pool sessions in total. On top of that I have physiotherapy, massage and strength training. There are no luxuries in training terms when you reach the top. I’m still up at 5am, training from 6am-8am and again in the afternoon. In the week I get home at 7.20pm, grab something to eat, watch a bit of TV and then crash. It’s all sleeping, training, driving and occasionally finding time to eat. That’s what my life is about. I relax at the weekends by shopping, seeing my boyfriend or catching up with friends. It’s all very normal and perhaps not what people might expect.

People often ask why I chose this sport over all the others. The answer is always the same: my sisters. From a young age, my parents took us all for swimming lessons. Both my older sisters, Laura and Chloe, showed promise and joined the local club, Sherwood Colliery. When I was seven, I just followed them as little sisters do, and spent the next couple of years trying to catch up even though they were two and four years older than me. When they were in the fast lane, I wanted to be there. Both of them swam to a very good standard, reaching the national championships. I did my first race for the club when I was nine, and was hooked.

By the age of 12 I was showing real promise and joined a bigger club in Lincoln, about an hour from my home. Those years were really tough for my mum, who was a taxi service for me. I ate breakfast out of a Tupperware box and missed a lot of school because of the demands of travelling. I knew I was a lot busier than my school friends, but I never considered it a sacrifice. I just love swimming.

My dedication began to pay off when I was 13: I represented Great Britain at the 2003 European Youth Olympic Games in Paris and came back with two silver medals. We were all a bit shell-shocked. I suppose it was then that my talent was recognised, and I joined the Nottingham swimming club under the guidance of Bill Furniss, who is still my coach.

By the time I did my GCSEs I was training considerably harder. I found it difficult to juggle the demands at that point – in fact, in 2005 I came down with a mild case of glandular fever. I mistakenly thought it was just tiredness and kept pushing myself in training. It turned into post-viral fatigue and I took a while to get over it. You really need to look after yourself properly at this level.

It has never crossed my mind to give up swimming as I love the sport so much, but I am compiling a list of things I’d like to do when I stop competing. I’d love to go skiing. I’ve never been in case I get injured. And I want to travel.

I do get to travel a lot, but I don’t really see anywhere other than the hotel room and the pool.

Your life is so structured as a top athlete – you have to watch what you eat, how much you sleep – that you look forward to little things that other people take for granted. After I won my second gold medal in the 800m in Beijing, things went mad. I swam in the morning, yet didn’t leave the pool building until about 3pm. My parents had come out to watch the race, but I only saw them for an hour as I was dashing about to press conferences and things. I was absolutely starving and the only thing I could get hold of to eat was a McDonald’s. Oh my God, it was heaven. I was so thankful to get my hands on that burger. All I eat when I am training and competing are things like pasta and plain chicken. Believe me, nothing had ever tasted as good.

I’ve been astounded by the amount of attention I’ve attracted since Beijing. Swimming doesn’t get much media coverage so to be suddenly in the headlines was quite a shock. I’d won medals at championships before, but in most people’s minds, nothing compares to the Olympics.

It’s all great fun, but swimming remains my focus. My aim was always to do well at London 2012 and that goal remains. I owe it to myself and my family to be at my best there.

A week in the life of Rebecca Adlington

Monday

7.30-10am: First swim of the week – I’ll do anything between 3,000 and 7,000m in the Olympic pool at Nottingham University. Then go home to have breakfast and rest.

3-5pm: Back in the pool: 30-minute warm-up swim, followed by 3,000m at a good pace. Warm-down using pull-buoys and floats.

5.30-7pm: strength training.

Tuesday

6-8am: High-intensity pool session of up to 3,000m.

5-7pm: Aerobic session – up to 8,000m steady swimming for endurance training.

Wednesday

AM: Rest.

3-5pm: Pool session of up to 3,000m plus 30-minute warm-up and warm-down swims before and after.

5.30-7pm: Weights in the gym next to the pool.

Thursday

6-8am: Another swim of around 3,000m plus warm-up and warm-down swims.

5-7pm: Aerobic session – up to 8,000m endurance training.

Friday

6-8am: Swim of around 3,000m plus warm-up and warm-down swims.

5-7pm: Aerobic session – up to 8,000m steady swimming for endurance training.

Saturday

7-9am: Pool session of 3,000m with 30-minute warm-up and warm-down using floats and pull-buoys.

pm: Rest.

Sunday

Rest day: Sleep until 10am and then just relax!

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