DVLA’s big splash for golden girl

Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington will be going for gold in Beijing this summer boosted by a surprise gift from her parents… the DVLA Personalised Registration R800 GBR.

The 19-year-old from Mansfield, was treated to the registration in the wake of her phenomenal success during the World Short Course Swimming Championships held in Manchester in April, where she won the 800m freestyle gold in a time just a quarter of a second shy of the world record.

Her success was so comprehensive, Rebecca has been selected to compete in four disciplines in Beijing – the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle and 4x200m freestyle relay – even though her main goal for this summer’s games was to compete in one as part of her preparation for the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

Rebecca said: “I couldn’t believe it. I’d just celebrated in Manchester and my mum asked if I’d like the R800 GBR registration, I was ecstatic, though I’ll be putting it on my old Corsa!”

Damian Lawson, DVLA Personalised Registrations’ marketing manager, said: “What a perfect gift. Many personalised registrations are bought to mark a special occasion, but I’ve never heard of one being bought for an Olympian. It’s quite an honour.”

At £250, Rebecca’s R800 GBR is a perfect example of the kind of registration that can be bought for a relatively low cost. Finding the combination of letters and numbers, Rebecca’s parents simply logged onto dvlaregistrations.co.uk – the agency’s interactive website recently heralded by The Daily Telegraph as one of the leading automotive-related websites in the UK – which enables prospective buyers to have fun putting letters on a registration plate and then place it on a car of their choice.