Furniss: Adlington on Course for Commonwealth Success

After being thrust into the media spotlight at the tender age of nineteen, double Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington underwent a transformation from anonymous club swimmer to international sports cover girl overnight. Accompanying her medal haul was an unanticipated level of focus and scrutiny, with various sources suggesting an inability to deal with public expectation levels was the root cause of her apparent post-Beijing loss of form.

Adlington and her coach, Bill Furniss, decided to begin refusing media opportunities, focusing instead on re-engaging her with the gruelling training demands of a modern-day Olympic champion.

“Rebecca’s not facing the media stuff all the time,” Furniss protests, “she’d rather just get on and do the job, so she keeps all the commitments to an absolute minimum”.

Adlington’s initial journey to Beijing rode on the back of a �6000 a year grant; scarcely enough to keep her in a swimsuit. Though her post-Beijing rates have quadrupled – with the financial incentives of public exposure undoubtedly doing no harm - the frivolous trimmings that accompany celebrity are not what keep Rebecca driven.

“She’s always had a determination, application and a high degree of focus, even as a 12 year old.” Furniss muses. “That’s Rebecca, she’s an absolute perfectionist, and she’s always been prepared to pay the price. Lots of people want success but don’t want to pay the price, but even Rebecca from day one has done whatever it takes. She’s still like that now.”

The cavalcade of public adulation that emerged from Rebecca’s astonishing double gold at the Beijing Olympics – Britain’s first by a woman in the pool for 48 years since Anita Lonsbrough – was accompanied with an insatiable level of public expectation. In the public sphere, at least, Rebecca was a victim of her own success.

“There is a perception that unless you jump on the blocks and win every single race, things aren’t going well. It’s just not true. She’s had two great years since the Olympics.” Furniss laments.

“If you look at the performances since the Olympics; with the World Championships in Rome, she got two bronze medals. In the 400m she swam 4:00.79, which is the third fastest in history, over two seconds quicker than she swam to win the Olympics.”

One year subsequent to the World Championships, Adlington was faced with the European Championships in Budapest. After a disappointing 800m, where she finished seventh, many suggested nerves could be at the heart of the problem. Some even began to question her hunger to succeed, asking if her Olympic flame had been extinguished. Then she stepped onto the blocks for the 400m, and accusations of a relapse in her progress drowned in the water.

“The 800m was obviously disappointing, but she turned herself around magnificently and showed the strength of character she’s got to win the 400m. Tactically, she swam a great race. I mean she didn’t panic, she didn’t go too soon. Everything she did in the race she just did perfectly.”

“I don’t see that she’s had two disappointing years, I think she’s had two great years.”

Despite accusations of training inconsistencies, Furniss indicates that Adlington has “done three or four really good weeks”, serenely revealing that “things are where I want them to be.” Preparations have now ensued for the upcoming Commonwealth Games, with a long-term developmental focus on the London 2012 Olympics.

“What we’re trying to do is focus on 2012 as it takes four years of preparation to build someone to that point. In those four years everyone will be at different stages of that preparation at different times”.

A sense of perspective and maintaining normality was vital following Beijing, according to Furniss. Her nomination for ‘Sports Personality of the Year’ in 2008 was a victory for every girl-next-door, though the Mansfield-born Jimmy Choo fanatic can be distinguished from the flock by her Amazonian physique and determined readiness to sacrifice anything.

“As of our relationship, and my role, nothing has changed. It’s back to the day job, straight away. We use the same pools, she trains with the same squad, we do things exactly the same, and we’re as normal as we possibly can be”.

Both coach and swimmer remain happy in one another’s company, having been together for almost a decade, with Furniss at the club a great deal longer. In the weeks preceding the Commonwealth games, both are sure to be found in their natural habitat. “Pain is just weakness leaving the body” Furniss will inevitably be crying at her from the poolside. The result is a swimmer of power and of poise, extraordinary in the water but with both feet grounded firmly on dry land.

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Bill Furniss is Head Coach for NOVA Centurion (Speedo sponsored swimming club) and a Speedo coach. For more information on Speedo, please visit www.speedo.co.uk.