Rebecca Adlington - Is Sporty Uncool?

Nineteen-year-old Olympic swimmer and gold medal winner Rebecca Adlington is a powerful force in the pool. But those strong shoulders that bring her fame in the water bring her shame on land.

"Do you know why I like shoes? They make me feel feminine," Adlington recently told The Daily Mail. "My shoulders stand out and people always say, 'Aren't they broad?' And I think, 'Thanks! You are really making me feel better about myself.' I don't hate them, but I'd like to be more petite."

Adlington continues: "Without them, though, I know I wouldn't have the power I have – they are what makes me go so fast in the water – but out of the water, they definitely look better with a nice pair of shoes," she says with a laugh.

Adlington has won two gold medals, broke Janet Evans' 800 meter record, and is the most successful swimmer in Great Britain in more than a century, so why can't she stop talking about shoes?

At 19, it's natural for a self-professed girlie-girl like Adlington to be wrapped up in fashion, makeup and shoes. But what's troubling here, I think, is that it seems like Adlington is going out of her way to prove her "femininity" outside of the pool because she feels like her success in the pool makes her less of a girl.

"Me? Bring glamour to the sport?" Adlington says when a reporter tells her she just might glamorize swimming. "I don't think so. I looked dreadful at the end of my 800 meters when I pulled my hat off and the wet hair was flopping in a face bare of make-up. Awful!" That would be the 800 where, as Jezebel points out, she won a gold medal.

Adlington is still a teenager, so I'm going to cut her a break. But it's disturbing that a strong, statuesque athlete can only feel good about her body when she's draping it in designer clothes and shoes. In fact, even as she talks about drawing more girls into the sport, she unintentionally passes that message onto future athletes.

"I think there is a problem in that girls don't think it's cool to be sporty," she says, "I had that feeling when I used to trudge into school after training with my hair wet, smelling of chlorine, with no make-up on and thinking, 'Oh God, all the other girls look fantastic.' We need to change the view that you can't be a sportswoman and be feminine. I am certainly feminine outside the pool." I'd love to ask Adlington, why only out of the pool?

We need to change the idea that women and power and strength don't mix, but I don't think Jimmy Choos are the answer. Jezebel commenter Jersey Grrl put it best: "Isn't it suspicious that to achieve this most "feminine" body is also to not tap into its full potential?" she writes. "To shackle our bodies with silicon implants and deny them full calorie intakes and keep them from strength training out of fear of broad shoulders or thicker legs.... is to do them a major disservice."

I think that, today, we should all send a message to our fellow women and daughters: It's OK to be strong. Take a female friend for a long run, teach your teenager how to strength train or call your mom and take her out for a walk.

What do you think about Adlington's comments? Do you think girls today are afraid to be strong and fit?