Francesca Halsall

Francesca Halsall

Francesca Jean "Fran" Halsall (born 12 April 1990) is a British freestyle and butterfly swimmer who has competed at the Olympics, World Championships, European Championships, and Commonwealth Games.

Halsall was the youngest member of the Team England swim squad at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne where she won silver medals in the 4×100 m freestyle and 4×100 m medley relays.

She was a member of the European Aquatics Championships 4×100 m medley relay team that took gold in August 2006 and successfully defended their title in August 2008 in Eindhoven. Halsall won five medals at the 2010 European Championships in Budapest, 2 Golds, 2 Silvers and a Bronze and was a member of the 4x100m medley relay team that successfully defended their title for a second time. In winning five medals, she became the most successful British swimmer ever at a single championships.

At the Commonwealth Games in 2010 in New Delhi, India, Halsall won a gold medal, with a national record of 26.19 seconds, in the 50m butterfly, beating the favoured Australians. In the 100m freestyle Halsall was expected to win easily but a bout of illness (Delhi Belly) left her pale and weak and she had to be content with the bronze medal. Just 20 minutes later and despite being almost unable to stand up she returned for the 100m butterfly semi finals but failed to make the final. Later in the Games Halsall recovered enough to win 3 more silver medals in the women's 50m freestyle and as part of the 4 x 100 freestyle and medley relay teams.