Fran Halsall: Britain's freestyle and butterfly swimming specialist
Fran Halsall is considered by many to be Britain’s freestyle and butterfly swimming specialist. Her performances at the national and international level are very competitive. She made her debut to competitive swimming at the 2002 British National Age Group
Championships, where she participated in a total of five events and scored a position in all of them. Her aggressive swimming style and fierce competitive spirit has earned her many awards and accolades.
Halsall won three gold medals at the 2002 British National Age Group Championship, as she completed the 100m back-stroke in 1:07.02 minutes, another gold medal in the 200m back-stroke in 2:26.14 and a third gold medal in the 200m individual medley in a time
of 2:29.04. She also scored two silver medals in the 200m freestyle and the 100m butterfly in a time of 2:13.28 and 2:29.04 respectively.
During the 2004 British Swimming Championships, she finished fifth in the 50m freestyle, 10th in both the 100m freestyle and 100m backstroke and 15th in the 200m individual medley. The following year, with exposure to senior level swimming,
she acquired a high training session to improve her performance and in the 2005 British Championships, she won a gold medal in the 50m freestyle in 26.23 seconds and a bronze medal in the 100m freestyle in a time of 56.90. She also finished 19th
and 15th in the 200m freestyle and the 100m butterfly respectively.
2006 was a golden period of her performance, as for the first time, Halsall participated in six events and won medals in all of them. At the championship, she won a gold medal in the 50m freestyle in 25.54 instead of her 26.23 in the previous year. Halsall
won three silver medals in the 50m backstroke, 50m butterfly and the 200m freestyle in 29.90, 27.54 and 2:00.85 respectively. She also secured two bronze medals in the 100m backstroke and the 200m individual medley in a time of 1:02.96 and 2:16.72 respectively.
The same year at the European Long Course Championships, Halsall booked a spot in the 4*100m medley relay team, which won a gold medal in 4:02.24. Then at the 2006 Commonwealth Games, she competed in three events and stood at the podium in two of them. She
won two silver medals being a part of the 4*100m freestyle and the 4*100m medley relay team and finished fourth in the 100m freestyle in a time of 55.40.
Halsall represented Britain in the following year at the World Championships in the 4*100m medley relay, 4*100m freestyle relay and the 4*200m freestyle relay and finished fourth, eighth and fifth respectively. Then at the 2008 Amateur Swimming Association
National Championships, she won a gold medal in the 50m freestyle in 25.24 and finished sixth in the 100m butterfly.
She then made her way to the 2008 British Championships, where she won two gold medals in the 50m freestyle and the 100m butterfly and a silver medal in the 100m freestyle that led to her selection for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In Beijing, she participated
in six events, but failed to get a decent position in any of them. Her closest position to the medal was fourth in the 4*100m medley relay team.
In 2009, she won two gold medals and a silver medal in the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle and 100m butterfly in a time of 24.53, 54.03 and 58.11 respectively. Her positions led to her qualification for the 2009 World Championships, where she participated
in four events but won only one silver medal in the 100m freestyle in 52.87.
At the 2010 European Championships and Commonwealth Games, Halsall won a total of four gold medals, seven silver medals and two bronze medals in her events.
Halsall is currently participating in the 2011 British Gas Swimming Championships, where she stood runner-up in the butterfly events, but occupied a gold medal in the 100m freestyle. She is also on her way to win a gold medal in the 50m freestyle, as she
qualified for the final as the fastest swimmer. Halsall has confirmed her spot in Britain’s team to participate at the 2011 Shanghai World Championships.
Tags: