Saturday, August 16, 2008 - 12:34 PM

Britain's Rebecca Adlington broke the oldest world record in swimming as she won the women's 800 metres freestyle in Beijing today.

Adlington took the lead early on and was never seriously challenged as she hit the wall in 8 minutes, 14.10 seconds.

The swim finally erased the old record time of 8:16.22 which had stood for almost 19 years since being set by Janet Evans of the United States on August 20, 1989.

Adlington, who won the 400m freestyle earlier in the week, also became the first British swimmer to win two golds at an Olympic meet since 1908.

Trailing in her wake, Italy's Alessia Filippi and Dane Lotte Friis finished second and third respectively more than six seconds behind.

Australia's Kylie Palmer, one of the star's of Australia's 4x200m freestyle relay win, finished sixth in 8:26.39.