In the first final of the Championships, which act as a qualifying event for both the European Championships and Commonwealth Games later this year, Adlington turned on the style in the second half of the race to touch narrowly ahead of Carlin in a time of 1min 57.87sec.

Carlin secured silver with a time of 1:58.51 while Jackson, who is currently suffering with asthma problems, took bronze in 1:58.93.

Adlington’s performance meant that she has met the qualification criteria for the English Commonwealth Games team in both the individual and relay events and the 21-year-old was ecstatic about picking up her first British title of the year.

She said: "I was really pleased with that.

"I love the relay so I’m really glad I’ve made it through for that.

"I’m not much of a sprinter so I have to rely on coming back in the last 100m.

"But it’s fantastic to have guaranteed the relay spot - that was what I wanted to do.

"I love the event and now I can enjoy the rest of the week because I know I’ve made that."

It was particularly impressive that Adlington saw off the threat of 19-year-old Carlin (pictured left), who is widely tipped to be the next superstar of British swimming, while Olympic medallist Jackson (right) was clearly well short of her best form due to her condition. 

Jackson’s coach Kevin Renshaw said: "Jo’s had a catalogue of problems over the winter so I actually think that’s a good performance for her.

"Her asthma has been out of control as that cold snap [over winter] went on forever and she never really got over that."

In the men’s competition Stockport’s Michael Rock, who beat Michael Phelps last December at Duel in the Pool, comfortably went into the final of the 200m butterfly while world champion Liam Tancock qualified fastest for the 50m backstroke final. 

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