Francesca Jean Halsall (born 12 April 1990) is a retired English competitive swimmer who has represented Great Britain at the Olympics, FINA world championships, and European championships, and England at the Commonwealth Games. She competed primarily in freestyle and

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprise ...

events. Halsall was the youngest member of the Team England swim squad at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, where she won silver medals in the 4×100-metre freestyle and 4×100-metre medley relays. She was a member of the European Aquatics Championships 4×100-metre 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 4x100-metre 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

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, ...

in New Delhi, India, Halsall won a gold medal, with a national record of 26.19 seconds, in the 50-metre butterfly, beating the favoured Australians. In the 100-metre 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 100-metre 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 50-metre freestyle and as part of the 4x100-metre freestyle and 4x100-metre medley relay teams.

Personal life

Halsall was born in

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Iris ...

and attended St Mary's College, Crosby. In 2017, Halsall received an Honorary Doctorate from

Edge Hill University Edge Hill University is a campus-based public university in Ormskirk, Lancashire, England, which opened in 1885 as Edge Hill College, the first non-denominational teacher training college for women in England, before admitting its first male stu ...

. In 2018, Halsall married rugby league star

Jon Wilkin Jon David Wilkin (born 1 November 1983), also known by the nicknames of "Wilko" or "Jean Jean", is an English former professional rugby league footballer who last played as a and for St Helens in the Super League, the Toronto Wolfpack in th ...

Swimming career

2008 FINA Short Course World Championships

Halsall won four medals at 2008 World Short Course Championships in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, including 4×100 m freestyle bronze on her 18th birthday. She won the silver medal in the 100 m freestyle behind

Marleen Veldhuis Magdalena Johanna Maria "Marleen" Veldhuis (born 29 June 1979) is a retired swimmer from the Netherlands. She was world record holder in four events (one individual event and three relay events). Veldhuis won eight world championships gold medals ...

of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

2008 Summer Olympics

Halsall represented

Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics Great Britain, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The United Kingdom was represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), and the team of selected athletes was offici ...

in the 100 m butterfly, 50 m freestyle, 100 m freestyle, 4×100 m freestyle, 4×200 m freestyle and 4×100 m medley In the 100 m freestyle final, she placed 8th, at 54.29. She swam a British record of 53.81 which helped the British quartet set a new national record of 3:38.18 in the 4×100 m freestyle.

2009 FINA Long Course World Championships

Halsall competed in 4 events at the 2009 world championships in Rome. She set a championship record for the 100m freestyle in the lead-off leg during the heats, and in the finals swam the lead leg, with Great Britain placing 7th. Halsall placed 5th in the 50m freestyle in a national record of 24.11. In the 100m, she out-touched Lisbeth Trickett of Australia to take silver in a national record of 52.87, with Germany's Britta Steffen winning in a new world record of 52.07. Halsall anchored the 4x100 metre medley relay to 5th place.

2012 Summer Olympics

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Halsall competed in five events. Halsall reached the semi-finals of 100m butterfly, posting a time of 58.52, well off her season's best of 57.56 set in March. Halsall made the finals of the 100m freestyle and 50m freestyle, finishing 6th and 5th respectively. In the 4×100 m freestyle relay Halsall swam the second leg in a split of 53.29, helping the British team to a 5th-place finish. In the final of the 4×100 m medley relay the British team finished 8th, with Halsall providing an anchor leg of 54.08.

2013 FINA Long Course World Championships

Having just missed out on a medal in the 50m butterfly by coming fourth, Halsall successfully gained bronze in the 50m freestyle posting a time of 24.30 seconds. This ended a disappointing drought of medals for Great Britain just one year after the London Olympics, though Halsall was the only swimmer to finish in a medal-winning position.

2014 Commonwealth Games

At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, Halsall won gold in the 50 m freestyle, setting three new Commonwealth Games records along the way. She also won the 50 m butterfly in a Games record time. In the relay events, she helped England to win silver in the 4 × 100 m freestyle and the 4 × 100 m medley.

2016 Olympics

Halsall competed for Great Britain at the 2016 Summer Olympics, narrowly missing out on a bronze medal in the 50 metres freestyle and helping the GB team to finish 7th in the 4 × 100 m freestyle. Kazan 2015 - Francesca Halsall 50m freestyle

Kazan 2015 - Francesca Halsall 50m freestyle

Personal bests and records held

References

External links

*
British Olympic Association athlete profile

British Swimming athlete profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Halsall, Fran English female swimmers Olympic swimmers of Great Britain Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Sportspeople from Southport Sportspeople from Lancashire Living people 1990 births British female freestyle swimmers World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Female butterfly swimmers People educated at St Mary's College, Crosby Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming World record setters in swimming Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Swimmers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games