Becky Adlington is a splash hit with armchair fans during the BBC's Olympic swimming coverage in Paris

The watery sports have delivered the weepies. From Adam Peaty on Sunday night through to Tom Daley and Noah Williams less than 24 hours later it has been a tear-jerking opening few days to the Olympic Games in the pool.

Tears with family and friends in the stands. Tears with Sharron Davies in the mixed zone. Tears in the studio with Becky Adlington, who lost the plot live on BBC One after Peaty missed gold by a fraction of a second and spoke so emotionally about what silver meant to him after his torment with mental health.

Adlington held it together on Monday night, which turned into another session of agonising near misses for Great Britain's swimmers and another fine display of expert punditry as she proved why she connects the occasional armchair swimming fans across the country.

She is so strikingly unpretentious. Knowledgeable with a delightful chemistry with the excellent Mark Foster.

Adlington doesn't share Foster's appetite to dominate the microphone, which means they blend together well and both ooze expertise and genuine enthusiasm for their sport. They were fascinating as they traded information on training schedules between races and she pulled Foster's leg about his gym routine.

Adlington has long been secure among our bona fide Olympic treasures with two golds to call her own from Beijing and years of sharp analysis since retirement but she is at her best empathising with the athletes such as Duncan Scott and Freya Colbert, both beaten into fourth place finishes in Monday night's finals.

'I wanted to give her a hug,' said Adlington after a tender post-race interview by Colbert who was so close to a medal in the women's medley final. But she was able to hold back the tears.