Huge statue of Mansfield swimming star Rebecca Adlington makes a splash

The 12ft high, 40ft long statue was revealed in the Serpentine at London's Hyde Park this morning - catching the attention of many commuters, tourists and swimmers.

It was specially commissioned by Kellogg's, Team GB's official cereal sponsor, to spur the British athletes on to a great start at the upcoming Rio Olympic Games.

The sculpture is made from fibreglass and took more than two months to design, build and paint.

Submerged in the front crawl position, the huge model is the equivalent to the length of a double decker bus.

Double Olympic gold medal swimming star Rebecca said: "Seeing the unveiling of such an impressive sculpture certainly should inspire Team GB ahead of the Olympic Games in Rio.

"As an Olympic athlete, I know how amazing it feels having the whole country behind you and I hope all of Britain will be cheering on our athletes in the coming weeks."

Lead sculptor Iain Prendergast added: "It was a privilege to be given the opportunity to sculpt one of our most famous and successful British athletes.

"The challenge for us was to capture Rebecca’s gold medal winning front crawl technique perfectly – we studied hundreds of pictures from her swimming at previous Olympic Games for inspiration."

The sculpture, which features swimming goggles and cap, was hand-painted using more than 50 litres of paint.

See more pictures HERE