Swimming: Adlington pulls out of 200m to stay strong

Rebecca Adlington finished the 400m final ahead of Jo Jackson (Getty Images)

Rebecca Adlington yesterday pulled out of the 200 metres freestyle at the British Olympic trials. Having secured her Olympic place by winning the 400m at the British Swimming Championships on Sunday, she decided not to compete in her weakest event in order to concentrate on her strongest – 800m – at the end of the week.

Adlington confessed to being nervous ahead of Sunday's 400m final but finished ahead of Jo Jackson. Her coach, Bill Furniss, had said they would wait and see what happened in the 400m before deciding about the 200m. She may still take part in the 200m at the ASA National Championships in Sheffield in June in order to win a place in the 4x200m relay.

Jackson, who won bronze in the 400m in Beijing and is the British record holder at 200m, did race yesterday and qualified third fastest for the final.