Rebecca set for a London splash

From virtual unknown to national treasure. Britain has already discovered a vast amount about Rebecca Adlington, double Olympic champion and jokingly nicknamed Dame Becky, these past few weeks.

The teenager is a world-class swimmer. She loves designer shoes. She hates the sea but is going on a cruise. She will get an Olympic rings tattoo done as soon as possible. She celebrated her two golds here with a McDonald's. The good news for British swimming is that Adlington yesterday described her ground-breaking achievements as being "all about getting experience".

London 2012 is when she will really mean business, and she intends to keep a calm head and steady focus on her sporting career. If the nation's crop of young aquatic talent – of which she is now the shining star – has come to fruition as planned, the hosts will make one heck of a splash in the pool, especially in the women's events.

Those in action here, almost all of them reaching finals, included Jo Jackson, 21, who won bronze in the 100m freestyle, Fran Halsall, 18, Jemma Lowe, 18, Hannah Miley, 19, Ellen Gandy, 17, Lizzie Simmonds, 17, and Gemma Spofforth, 20.

"The Games in 2012 is going to be an amazing opportunity and has always been my main target, not this Olympics because I'm only 19," said Adlington, speaking words that might have been fundamentally applicable to any of her young GB peers.

Last Saturday, Adlington added to her 400m freestyle win in the first week with a stunning 800m victory. She obliterated swimming's oldest world record, set 19 years ago, to win in eight minutes 14.10 seconds and become the only British woman ever to have won two swimming golds, let alone at one Games. The short-term rewards will be national fame and huge endorsement deals, not to mention a modest increase in her lowest-tier lottery funding of £12,000 (Dh82.2m) a year. The drawbacks will be coping with all the attention and intrusions.

The former Prime Minister Tony Blair was quick to offer a hug in front of the cameras here yesterday. The girl from Mansfield insists she will not be distracted. "My main focus will still be the swimming. I won't accept anything that gets in the way of that at all. If Speedo or any brand are interested, I'd love to have a kit deal because buying costumes, goggles, hats, it gets quite expensive. Just for one pair of goggles, it's £25 (Dh170). You don't expect them to be that much. It's just a bit of plastic. You're in the pool four hours a day so you go through a training costume every month. They go see-through or big. They're around £30."

Britain's greatest female swimmer of all time should not have to wait long to get herself that kit deal. The reason she has not been told about numerous offers already is because her family and British Swimming have struggled with the deluge.

If Adlington is the most visible example of a new winning culture in the pool, set in place largely under the regime of the former performance director of British Swimming, Bill Sweetenham, she is not the only one.

There were 21 British appearances in finals, up from 16 in Athens, 10 in Sydney and eight in Atlanta. There was one world record for Briton (Adlington's), plus two Olympic records, six European records, three Commonwealth records and 24 British records.

Adlington's parents were not in Beijing to see their daughter win the 400m during the first week of the Olympic Games, because she had not been expected to make it to the final. But they were there last week.

"I went over to see Mum and Dad in their seats afterwards and the crowd just mobbed me," said Adlington. "It was a bit weird. Everyone just went 'whoosh' towards me. It's not really sunk in.

"I spoke to one of my sisters [in Mansfield], and the press were already outside the house." Those two older sisters, Chloe, 24, and Laura, 21, provided the competition when Rebecca took up swimming seriously at an early age. She now does 70km per week in the pool, in 10 two-hour sessions, plus gym work.

Steve Adlington said: "I'm absolutely stunned at what Becky's done today. I can't believe what I've seen this week. Two gold medals and she's broken the world record by so much."

Her mother added: "It's totally unbelievable. I feel like someone is going to pinch me and I'll wake up."

Even before Adlington was dry after her first gold, the producers of the BBC quiz show A Question of Sport were on the phone to her team. Calls also started to come in from agents talking book and TV deals, advertising and corporate work.

Adlington's coach, Bill Furniss, is certain the success will not go to her head. "Not at all," he said. "She's a Mansfield girl and she'll stay a Mansfield girl."

Adlington could be on her way to earning her first £1m (Dh6.85m) in sponsorship following her success.

She is the first British woman to win an Olympic swimming race in 50 years and the most successful British swimmer in a century.

Adlington "represents a fantastic opportunity [for brands]," said brand specialist Mark Borkowski. "She has become an overnight British figurehead."

British companies such as BP and BT could offer Adlington up to £100,000 (Dh685,000) a year each to endorse their brands.

"I predict she will endorse sportswear for the likes of Speedo," said Alan Pascoe, of specialists Fast Track.

Rebecca Adlington's win in the 800m freestyle took two seconds off the world record, the longest-standing in her sport, which was set in the year of her birth – 1989.

(The Independent)