Double Olympic champion Rebecca Adlington has backed Wandsworth’s Katherine Wyld to bounce back from the Delhi belly that wrecked her Commonwealth Games.

Food poisoning meant the 24-year-old was unable to swim for the 4x100m freestyle team that claimed silver behind Australia.

“I felt so sorry for Katherine,” said Adlington, speaking at the London 2012 Olympic Park as part of Cadbury’s Spots v Stripes campaign.

“She was in bed for three days just unable to do anything so she had to sit it out which was a real shame because she had come all the way.

“Because Katherine isn’t on funding she is in a difficult situation and I know she really wanted to go out and prove a point.

“She is a great talent and I have no doubt she will work twice as hard to return from this.”

Wyld, now based at Nottingham’s Nova Centurion, was also forced to sit out August’s European Championships with a foot injury.

Team-mate Adlington added: “It was great for the club to have that number of girls there. We are only a little club and it was such a positive thing for all of us.

“Katherine is a role model for more boys and girls to come down and give swimming a try. Everyone got a medal apart from Katherine and unfortunately there was nothing she could do about that.”

* Rebecca Adlington is supporting Spots v Stripes, Cadbury's campaign to get the nation playing sport in the run up to the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. For more information visit www.spotsvstripes.com