Article about swimming.
KATE Hutchinson may have left the Commonwealth Games empty-handed – but Rebecca Adlington insists she couldn’t have asked for a better way to start her senior international career.
The 20-year-old, from Dewsbury, joined the double Olympic champion as part of a strong English swimming team in Delhi that returned home with 34 medals to declare.
Hutchinson wasn’t one of them but that wasn’t for the want of trying as she reached her first major international final in the 200m medley finishing eighth in the Indian capital.
The Dewsbury flyer narrowly missed out on repeating the trick in the 200m breaststroke trailing home ninth overall just over two seconds away from a place in the medal showdown.
However, Adlington – who won four medals in total in Delhi including double gold – believes Hutchinson will only be better for the experience with next year’s World Championships in Shanghai now the focus.
“For Kate I definitely think that Delhi was the best possible experience of a first major event she could have hoped for,” said Adlington – speaking at the London 2012 Olympic Park, as part of the Cadbury’s Spots v Stripes campaign.
“And I say that because of everything that went on surrounding the facilities, people falling ill and also because how well the team did out there.
“Kate will benefit hugely from the experience and to be around such success and hopefully she can get used to that environment and be part of it for years to come.
“Building up to an Olympics – which is everyone’s ultimate goal – a Commonwealth Games is as close as you can come because it is a multi-sport event.
“You are living in an athlete’s village and you are in that bubble of an environment which is exactly what an Olympics is like. For Kate who hasn’t been to an Olympics the Commonwealth Games are an absolutely crucial experience and – good or bad – will have definitely left a mark.”
Hutchinson faces competition from medley swimmers Aimee Willmott and Anne Bochmann as well as breaststroke specialist Stacey Tadd to become a regular face on the British team.
And Adlington – who also won double gold at the Olympics in 2008 – believes whether that comes in time for London 2012 or Rio 2016 Hutchinson will be ready.
“I honestly believe that just by being in Delhi Kate is so much better prepared for what is to come – whether that be London or Rio,” she added.
“British swimming is so strong no matter what age a swimmer is and Kate is definitely part of that. You get thrust into the limelight after recent success and that helps you mature.
“There is a very positive future for British swimming looking ahead to the London 2012 Olympics and Kate could definitely play her part.”
Rebecca Adlington is supporting Spots v Stripes, Cadbury's campaign to get the nation playing in the run up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. For more information visit www.spotsvstripes.com
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