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Speaking to the Â鶹Éç Sport cameras moments before we met, the 20-year-old expressed delight at the arrival of , winner of 14 Olympic gold medals to her two, on these shores.

"He's the big name everyone wants to see," she said. "There's no pressure to perform with Phelps over here - he's the God of swimming. I'm looking forward to it, and I'm a swimmer. I get excited about it."

Afterwards, I picked her up on her admiration for Phelps. It's hardly a surprise that, even with Olympic golds from Beijing in the 400m and 800m freestyle under her belt, Adlington is thrilled to see the American legend in Britain - anyone who follows the sport is similarly excited.

But she admitted she daren't even approach Phelps, just a few years her senior, such is the aura around the man.

"I don't know him as a person," she told me. "He wouldn't know who I am - he'd be like, 'Who's this talking to me?' He's on a whole different level."

That may apply to the US team as much as to Phelps on Friday's evidence, but it's surprising that Adlington sees it that way. She is British swimming's only household name in the UK, and that looks unlikely to change any time soon. If she believes her American equivalent has never even heard of her, then we can't be shocked when their swimming team turns over a European squad packed with Brits in such devastating fashion.

Beyond their status as the leading lights of swimming in their respective countries, Adlington insists there is nothing in their experience that links the pair. On the contrary, she believes comparisons with Phelps were damaging after her success in Beijing.

"People don't know about swimming so they relate you to Phelps," she said. "It's insane, he's such a rare person, not everybody can - it's extremely difficult, and the rest of us are just trying to get one.

"We as athletes respect him even more because we know what he goes through. It's hard. It's amazing that he can swim the way he swims, and his attitude is always professional, the way he manages himself poolside is inspiring. Nobody in the swimming world can understand what he goes through."

Adlington was pleased with on Friday, not least because she sported the new, slower 2010 swimsuit as opposed to the American's faster 2009 model, which becomes illegal in January - making this meet the last chance for many swimmers to go after world records.

If she can finish her season well in her remaining events on Saturday, she will have enjoyed a happier end to a 2009 which has sometimes been a struggle.

The swimsuit fiasco has not helped - Adlington's Speedo model has polyurethane panels but is not made entirely from the , unlike those of some rivals. But that does not entirely explain why she could only come away from the with two bronze medals, and is not an excuse she would hide behind.

"I'm quite happy at the minute," she said before adding, with a laugh: "I'm not going to get all depressed on you and start crying! But it's been a hard year personally.

"It's been hard for me to deal with everything after Beijing, like being recognised (she was interrupted by a gentleman seeking an autograph within a second of taking her seat in the hotel bar), and there are other things like moving house and personal situations, and your swimming gets affected by that.

"Growing up, it's hard enough to deal with change in your twenties anyway, with your body shape, and changing as a woman, let alone as a swimmer as well.

"My body shape has changed a little bit and when you get older you can't necessarily do all the work you did when you were 16. And moving house at the same time was difficult, especially moving out of the family home. it's very different living on your own but I still love it."

Adlington will hope for a more settled 2010 both in and out of the pool, with the move complete and the ultra-fast swimsuit controversy put to bed. But, in case things don't quite go to plan over the next year, she has acquired a companion who may lend more of an ear than Michael Phelps.

"Now I've got my little dog, a Maltese Bichon, to keep me company. And no," she adds in response to my question, "it's not called Phelps, it's called Daisy. I'm not that much of a fan!"