BECKY IN DREAMLAND

MICHAEL who? It takes something freakish, something awesome, something jaw-dropping to compete with the moment when a sportsman achieves immortality.

And the ripples from Michael Phelps's latest history-making moment had barely flattened when Rebecca Adlington - cheery young Becky from little old Mansfield, England - produced it.

Upstage Phelps? Maybe not.

But give the finest-ever performance by a British swimmer? Yes.

Shatter a world record that has been the Holy Grail for competitors for nearly two decades? Yes.

Join - in a fraction over eight minutes and 14 seconds - the pantheon of great British Olympians? Yes.

And all this from a girl for whom the innocence of youth remains wonderfully unblemished.

"Aah, I won't be a celebrity - I'll be back in training in no time and everyone will have forgotten me," said the 19-year-old, who had just become only the second Brit to win two gold medals at a modern Olympics.

"But they have named my old baths in Mansfield after me. It used to be called the Sherwood Baths but now they are naming it after me. That's unbelievable."

Demolished

No, Becky. What was unbelievable was what unfolded below us in Beijing's Water Cube - a stadium co-owned by Phelps and Adlington.

It was not so much that the 400metre champion demolished the field - her dominance was such that she could have won while wearing a pair of her beloved Christian Louboutin boots - it was that she smashed the 800m world record of 8:16.22 held by American Janet Evans by 2.12secs.

So what? Swimmers break world records like Greek guests break plates at a wedding. It's 23 and counting at these Games.

But this was not just any historical mark. This was the oldest swimming record on the books, set just six months after Miss Adlington came into the world in February, 1989.

"I can't believe that has just happened," she said. "Obviously I knew I had won when I touched the wall but if you had told me I would swim that time, I'd have laughed in your face."

It was Adlington first, the world nowhere. The stadium PA gave up commentating halfway through and just urged the crowd to lift Adlington into the history books. And in she went.

Her pal Cassandra Patten arrived at the sensory wall some considerable time later and then went on national television to implore Her Majesty to put Becky alongside Dame Kelly Holmes.

But as Phelps collected a million-dollar bonus for equalling Mark Spitz's record of seven golds at one Games, Adlington (left) said she would settle for a pair of shoes.

"I've seen a black pair that I want and I've already e-mailed my mum, begging her for them, saying p-p-p-l-e-e-a-a-s-e can I have them," she said with a naivety that could melt the stoniest heart.

Hurtling

If sponsors have a smidgeon of sense, Adlington will not only have a pair of Christian Louboutins first thing today . . . she will be able to fill them as well.

Yet financial reward is the least Adlington deserves for the sacrifices she has made during those years when teenage girls are normally hurtling joyfully into adulthood.

"There are times when you just haven't got the energy to get in the car and go home. You just sit there shattered. You push yourself to the limit day in, day out," she said. "But it's all worthwhile now. This is a dream come true."

Adlington, of course, benefits from increased funding - but £25,000 a year doesn't motivate you to get through six hours of toil a day for 365 days a year.

Nor does it help you get over a serious bout of glandular fever - a strain of which almost killed her sister Laura - and a fatigue syndrome that could strike again.

Determination, strength of character, ambition do that.

And parents who give you round- the-clock support.

"I am just so glad they were here," said Adlington as mum Kay was still weeping in the stands and dad Steve was making the most treasured home video of his family's life.

"They weren't here for the 400m and when I spoke to them after that, I could tell they had really wanted to be there.

Awesome

"They had tickets but the company went bust (they were victims of a suspected ticket scam that left them a grand out of pocket) but thankfully we got two more and they flew out on Thursday.

Then, the tickets weren't in a good position but we managed to get two on the front row. That was brilliant."

"That was just awesome," said Mrs Adlington. "We are the proudest parents in Beijing. Well, I guess Michael Phelps's parents must be pretty happy too."

I'm sure they are. But Phelps is already a bona fide superstar, aware of the legend he is creating and of all its spin-offs.

Adlington is blissfully unaware of the ramifications of her achievements."Yes, I suppose I have put Mansfield on the map," was her only nod in the direction of fame. "It's our home and we love it."

That's where she will head after cheering on Team GB for the rest of the Games - and then away for some sunshine with boyfriend, Andy Mayor - a 23-year-old swimmer from Newcastle- under-Lyme.

"My boyfriend is at home," she said. "It was either have him fly out here or go on holiday. We couldn't afford to do both - so we chose to go on holiday."

She wouldn't say exactly where - but today, the world belongs to Rebecca Adlington.