Crunch time for Sarah Adlington and Rio 2016

The Commonwealth gold medallist from Shrewsbury is part of the 13-strong GB competing in Kazan, Russia. It is the final major competition of the Olympic qualifying period.

And, with Adlington just a couple of places outside of the automatic qualifying positions, it is imperative that she performs well – a fact that she is not shying away from.

The 29-year-old said: "It can be hard knowing that I need a good result but it is what it is – I just need to deal with it.

"I try to put Rio out of my head. It's really important for me to concentrate only on fighting rather than anything that comes along with it.

"When your mind is too wide, you don't get anywhere so you just have to think about that fight rather than the bigger picture. I think I've got better at doing that – I've had to."

Adlington is in action tomorrow in the +78kg category while Shrewsbury's Danny Williams fights today in his -73kg section.

Meanwhile, Shropshire swimmer Chris Walker-Hebborn is off to the Rio Olympics. The Ellesmere College Titan is part of a 26-strong squad for the Games.

And the 25-year-old will be looking to add to his string of international medals.

The backstroke star has three European and two Commonwealth Games crowns as well as a world gold as part of the 4x100m mixed relay team.