Rebecca Adlington reveals heartache of life as single mum after marriage split
Double Olympic gold medal winning swimmer broke up with her husband earlier this year after just 18 months of marriage
REBECCA Adlington has opened up about life as a single mum - revealing that her daughter has no idea her parents have separated.
Olympic swimmer Rebecca, 27, announced in March that she was splitting from husband Harry Needs after just 18 months of marriage.
But despite their split, she told how the pair managed to keep their family from being torn apart for the sake of one year old baby Summer.
And she revealed she still relies on Harry to look after her all the time - and will leave him with her when she jets to Rio for the Olympics.
Rebecca said: “Harry and I splitting up hasn’t made a difference to Summer. When one of us isn’t there, to her it feels like it would if that person had gone back to work.
“We both have time with her, and then we do some things together, like taking her swimming - she’s obsessed with water.
“When there’s a child involved, breaking up is so different, because you both want the best for them. And we absolutely adore her.
“She’s only young, so all that she knows now is that all both her parents love her, and that’s the thing that is very important to us both.
“She doesn’t have a clue that we’re separated.
“We’re so lucky that we’re both self employed, so we can be really flexible with schedules and make sure that we both get time with her.
“It has been challenge, but we’re organised people and we have an app that helps us share calendars.
“Harry can see what he’s doing, I can see what he’s doing and we can both see who has Summer when, and when we have time with her.
“We haven’t divided her time up half and half, nothing like that is written down.
“But Harry works three nights a week, so I always have her on those nights and then we have alternate weekends to spend with her.
“Most of the time we live in the same house too, so we both see her all the time. It’s really nice there are no rules. Neither of us can even not see her if we want to.”
She went on: “I don’t worry that things will change when we don’t live together, because we’re both so focused on her it’s crazy.
“I suppose it’s more of a worry for when she’s at school and both of us will be seeing her a lot less.
"But that’s much too far away to be worrying about now. It’s so far down the line you can’t even think about it.
“For now, it doesn’t feel strange spending so much time with Harry - even though we have split up. We’re both just parents thinking about being parents.”
Rebecca, who was linked to Dean Cain after splitting from Harry, was criticised this year for jetting off to the Bahamas for two weeks - without daughter Summer.
And she is planning to leave the tot with her dad for the second time, when she jets to Rio de Janeiro to mentor the Olympic swim team.
But the star insisted it wouldn’t have been fair to drag Summer and Harry to the games with her, as she won’t have time to see them.
She said: “No, she is not coming to Rio. I looked at because I really wanted her there, but then I got the work schedule.
“America have the TV rights, so the heats are 1 to 4pm then the finals are 10 to midnight.
“I’ll be in bed at 2am, up at 10am and then working all the time, so I wouldn’t see her and would be constantly paranoid, wondering if she was ok.
“So instead she’s going to Spain for two weeks with Harry and his family, she’ll have the best time and then I’ll take her away on holiday in September.”
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She went on: “It is really incredible how much being a mum changes your life. People did say to me before: ‘Things will never be the same’ and I believed them.
“But I didn’t realise to what extent. As an athlete, you do have to be quite selfish. You just naturally think: ‘What do I need to perform, to be in the best shape?’
“So you’re constantly thinking about what’s right for you. And I’ve got from that to thinking: ‘What does Summer need?’ I never think about me anymore.
“It’s funny, because I was never particularly maternal before - my sisters were the ones who were great with kids and I was never really around them.
“But now I absolutely love kids and I’m very protective. I thought I’d be a chilled laid back parent, but actually motherhood has made me a worrier.
“Even when me and Harry take her swimming I can be over-protective, and - even though she’s fine - I’ll be saying to him: ‘Please don’t do that.’
“It’s shocked me how much I want to protect her all the time. My mum told me it never stops either - I’m 27 and she’s never stopped worrying about me.”
Tot Summer, who was born last year, turned one this week.
And Rebecca told how they celebrated with a family party and a photo book that she had put together packed with snaps from her first year.
She said: “It’s so surreal that she’s one year old. I made her one of those photo books for her birthday, and it’s crazy seeing how much she’s changed.
“But motherhood just keeps getting better and better. I knew I loved Summer from the moment she was born, but now she’s got a proper little personality.
“She definitely takes after me, because she’s Little Miss Independent - she wants to do everything for herself - but then she’s got a really sweet side too.
“So every now and again, she’ll come in for a cuddle and I’m like: ‘It’s unbelievable how much you’re like me’.
“It’s great that now we can properly interact with her and have that connection. She knows who Harry and I are now and I love that.
“I love that she knows I’m her mum, and that when she sees us now she lights up.”
Despite being linked to Superman star Dean, 49, and a second mystery man this year, Rebecca insists she is not looking for another romance.
And the star, who is now backing the relaunch of Johnson’s baby wipes, said she is pouring all her energy into being a mum.
She said: “Am I thinking about getting out and meeting new men? Oh God no, not at all. I’m just really focused on Summer at the moment.”
She went on: “I’ve been involved with Johnson’s for a bit, because I literally don’t have a day of my life where I don’t have baby wipes with me.
“Summer has sensitive skin so I use the extra sensitive wipes, which are perfect for her - not just when I’m changing nappies, but when we’re playing.
“It’s great when you find a product that’s good and really works.”