Alia unveils Speedo swimsuit for Rio Olympics

Jamaican swim star Alia Atkinson was among seventy-eight of the world's best swimmers at a launch for sponsor's Speedo in New York on Tuesday night to unveil their swimsuits for the Rio Olympics.

Atkinson, a surprise fourth place finisher in 100 metre breaststroke at the London Games in 2012, is now considered a strong medal favourite heading into Rio.

In speaking about what it felt like to be among the world's elite, the 27 year old Atkinson said: “Growing up in Jamaica it’s not one of the things that you aspire to be because you haven’t seen that many people do it before you. Unlike track and field where you have numerous people coming about every two years you have a different crop of athletes, swimming, it’s kind of the same people for an extended time. But to come up here and actually reach the level that I am now and be a part of team Speedo is fantastic,” said Atkinson.

This year, Atkinson won a silver medal in the 50 breaststroke and bronze in the 100 breaststroke at the World Championships in Kazan, Russia.