Francesca Jean Halsall, the astounding swimmer from Southport
Francesca Jean Halsall was born on the 12th of April, 1990. The 20-year-old athlete is an expert swimmer in freestyle and butterfly strokes. She was born in Southport, United Kingdom and has represented her country in many national and international
mega events. The young swimmer has been training at the Loughborough club in the UK.
At the 2006 Commonwealth Games that took place in Melbourne, Halsall was the youngest swimmer of the English contingent. Yet, she returned home with two silver medals. She made the Team England swim squad at the Games proud of her by winning medals in the
4 into 100 metre freestyle and 4 into 100 metre medley relay events.
The Team England swim squad also won a gold medal in the 4 into 100 metre medley relay meet at the European Championships that took place in Melbourne, 2006. The title was defended by the talented swimmer at the next edition of the event that occurred in
Eindhoven two years later. Halsall once again lived up to her title in the 2010 European Championships in Budapest, where she won 2 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze medal as part of the 4 into 100 metre medley relay team. Since she bagged five medals at a single
championship, she became the most successful British swimmer ever.
In the 2008 Summer Olympics, Halsall once again represented her country at the event. She participated in the 100 metre butterfly, 50 metre freestyle, 100 metre freestyle, 4 into 100 metre freestyle, 4 into 200 metre freestyle and 4 into 100 metre medley
meets. Halsall made it to the finals of the 100 metre freestyle, finishing the race in 54.29 seconds in the eighth spot. She did, however, help the British swim squad to set a new national record of 3 minutes and 38.18 seconds in the 4 into 100 metre freestyle
event.
Another event in which Halsall participated in 2008 was the FINA Short Course World Championships that took place in Manchester. She won silver and bronze medal in the 100 metre freestyle and 4 into 100 metre freestyle events respectively. In the 100 metre
freestyle meet, she finished after Marleen Veldhuis of Netherlands.
Halsall also represented her team in the recent Commonwealth Games 2010 New Delhi. She was unfortunately one of the swimmers to suffer from stomach issues and diarrhoea. Despite her ‘Delhi Belly’, she managed to clinch a gold medal in the 50 metre butterfly
event, holding off the Australian athlete. She not only won the gold medal but also set a national record of 26.19 seconds. However, the stomach problems did bring her down in the 100 metre freestyle event and she had to return with a bronze medal. At the
end of the race, she could barely stand up with the intense pain but still did not give up. She went on to contest the semi-final of the 100 metre butterfly event, but unfortunately could not make it to the final meet. Delhi Games gave her the opportunity
to bag three more silver medals when she recovered. These medals were won by her in the women’s 50 metre freestyle event and as a member of the 4 into 100 metre freestyle and medley relay teams.
Her personal beats and records so far are as follows:
50 metre freestyle: 24.11 seconds (long course) and 23.44 seconds in short course. These records were set by her in 2009.
100 metre freestyle (2009): 52.87 seconds (long course) and 51.19 seconds (short course)
200 metre freestyle: 1 minute and 59.13 seconds (long course) set in 2008 and 1 minute and 53.89 seconds (short course) set in 2010
100 metre backstroke: 1 minute and 01.57 seconds (long course) set in 2008 and 1 minute and 00.92 seconds set in 2007
50 metre butterfly: 26.19 seconds (long course) in 2010 and 25.44 seconds (short course) set in 2008
100 metre butterfly: 57.40 seconds (long course) and 55.71 seconds (short course) in 2010 and 2009 respectively.
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