Commonwealth champion Rebecca Cooke, of England and Britain, has retired at the age of 24. Her decision to move on in life follows Olympic trials in Sheffield at which she finished out of the frame in the 400m and 800m freestyle.

Cooke was the dominant freestyle swimmer in Britain between 2000 and 2006. IN 2002, she won both the 400m and 800m Commonwealth titles, retained the 800m in 2006 and along the way won bronze medals at the 2005 world championships and the 2006 European championships.

Cooke earned great respect from her peers, her reputation that of one of the hardest workers you could care to meet, a swimmer who set a high work ethic for others to follow in a born-again Britain swim team. She was also a fine team player. Rebecca Adlington, who won the 200m, 400m and 800m at trials, all in national and/or Commonwealth record times, paid homage to Cooke after the 16-lap race at trials, saying: "e;I have so much respect for Becky. She is so hard working. I've never known anyone work so hard and the great thing is, she's just one of the nicest people you'll ever meet.'

Cooke said in a statement today: 'I was disappointed not to make the team for the Olympics this year as that was my one remaining goal. This has brought forward my retirement by a few months as I had already resolved that I would make the change after Beijing.'

My own memories of Cooke will be of a girl and woman who put a smile and a brave face on any result that came her way, her positive outlook at all times and her courage to face the lights and microphones when things did not go the way she had planned part of the story of a career of which she has a right to be proud. It included a 2004 felling of Britain's then oldest surviving record, the 400m medley standard that had stood to Sharron Davies, Olympic silver medallist in 1980. Bill Sweetenham, the former Britain performance director, pointed to Cooke's medley efforts as the keenest evidence of the importance of the size of the fight in the dog, as opposed to the size of the dog in the fight. Cooke had three poor strokes and freestyle, he joked, but her work ethic and spirit had driven her to places some would not have believed possible.

That medley effort was one of 32 swims inside Davies's 1980 swim by British women between 2004 and 2008 after 24 years of no one being able to get there. At the helm now are Hannah Miley and Kerri-Anne Payne, on 4:33.24, European record, and 4:38.30. Cooke's attitude played a key part in lifting Britain's game.

I first interviewed her as a 15-year-old in the kitchen of her home near Reading in Royal Berkshire less than a mile from my own home. Her mum made tea as her very bright offspring spoke of the 10 A grade exams she had just passed. Cooke remembered the moment, as did I, when we met across a fence, swimmer on one side, journalist on the other, at the 2004 Olympic Games after an 800m in which she swam a little below best to sixth place some 2.5sec from a medal. She knew she had better times in her. She knew how hard she had worked. So did I. Cooke could not contain the tears but after a couple of moments in private, she composed herself and returned to speak to the media. Cooke, coached by Stephen Hill in Reading and then Glasgow, was never one to shy from difficult moments. She was always a delight to deal with and British Swimming will miss her much.

For Cooke, this is the start of a new phase in life. 'After taking the summer to enjoy time with my friends and family, my next step will be to complete the final year of my Physiology degree at the University of Glasgow,' she said. 'Swimming is the best thing that has ever happened to me and has shaped me into the person I am today. It has given me some fantastic experiences and I can retire knowing that I have given my all to a sport that has given me so much in return. I have travelled all over the world and have some very special memories which I will always carry with me.

'I have made some very good friends throughout my time in swimming. The ten years I have spent on the British team has been the most special, I will really miss the camaraderie.'

Among plaudits for Cooke was this from British Swimming Head Women's Coach Ben Titley: 'Becky has been a fantastic athlete, role model and personality to have on the British team. She's one of the toughest competitors we've seen in the sport for many years and testament to this is her success at World, European and Commonwealth level as well as the fact she's competed in two Olympic finals. Becky has a reputation for going that extra mile in training and I'm sure this hard work ethic will serve her well in her life outside of the sport.'

Becky - we salute you.