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The Government has announced that England's swimming pools could be free for children and the over-60s in time for the London 2012.

But the trouble is many of these public pools are either being closed down or are poorly maintained with local councils pleading poverty as their excuse.

Ex Olympic swimmer Sharron Davies visits Derby where local residents have taken their council to court to try to save their public pool.

Meanwhile Rebecca Adlington's success in Beijing offers hope to British swimmers of the future

Rebecca brought two gold medals back to Nottinghamshire and smashed the longest standing swimming world record.ÌýÌý

Sports reporter Natalie Jackson has been tracking Rebecca’s swimming career from her first competitions to becoming the fastest woman swimmer in the world.Ìý She set out to find out what turned a teenager from Mansfield into a record breaker.

Natural swimmer

It all started at the local pool. Becky’s mum, Kay told us her daughter was a natural swimmer even before she started school.

Triumph in the Olympics followed years of training

"She took to it like a duck to water. When she was four we took her for council lessons at Sherwood Baths and she loved it. Whatever anyone showed her to do she did it – and we’ve never looked back."

By the time she started secondary school Becky was already winning swimming galas and in 2004 she became a European junior champion, winning the event that was to become her favourite, the 800m.

Intensive training

Bill Furniss, Chief Coach at Nottinghamshire's competitive swimming squad Nova Centurion, has worked with Becky since she was 13.Ìý

His training regime meant Becky travelled hundreds of miles every week between her home in Mansfield and a public pool in Nottingham to complete two hour sessions both before and after school.

"Even getting up at five in the morning she never ever complained," Kay told us.Ìý

"She loved what she was doing and she just got on with doing it.Ìý Looking back now I really can't believe she did it as well as she did - she was such a dream."

Life changing moment

Yet in 2005 as Becky prepared for the Commonwealth games the family was hit by illness and the intensive training had to stop.

Becky and her older sister Laura both caught glandular fever.Ìý

For Becky it led to post viral fatigue and set her training back a year.

Kay Adlington: "life changing moment"

But for Laura the virus developed into encephalitis. She ended up in intensive care at Nottingham's Queens Medical centre and for a while her family feared they'd lose her.

"It was a life changing moment," Kay told Natalie.Ìý

"When Laura came off the life support machine and then improved… well, it does alter the way you think about things. You realise how fine a line it is.Ìý

"Certainly for Becky I think it was a decider.Ìý She thought – if I’m going to do this with swimming I have to do it now while I’m young, while I’m hopefully going to get over my own illness, and give it a shot."

New chapter

By April 2008 Becky was back on peak form. At the swimming world championships in Manchester she missed the world record only a quarter of a second.

Victorious in Beijing

The stage was set for Beijing and a performance that opened a new chapter for British swimming.

For most athletes two gold medals and a world record would be the pinnacle of their career. But Becky has set her sights on the London Olympics and has no intention of resting on her laurels.Ìý

She'll be considering various offers of sponsorship and has an armful of invitations to appear at global events and popular tv shows.Ìý

But swimming will always come first and she intends to be back to her gruelling training regime by the end of September 2008.

In the meantime she hopes her achievements will inspire other youngsters to take up sport.Ìý

"It’s not about the facilities or the money – it's about the hard work," she says.Ìý "You’ve got to get out there, enjoy it and go for it."