Fran Halsall claims silver in the 100m butterfly, Gold in the 50m and 100m freestyle just months after ankle surgery.
Loughborough swimmer Fran Halsall had an emotional return to the pool on Sunday as she competed at the British Championships.
Having only began training last month after receiving surgery for an ankle problem, Halsall finished in 58.99 seconds and has secured her spot for the world championships later this year.
Her performance in the final showed true character especially after a poor semi-final race put her as the fifth faster qualifier. Halsall herself admitted "I was awful in the semi-final and I had to just pick myself up and say 'I'm Fran Halsall, I do not swim like that'.”
However she was able to put the performance behind her as she entered the final. A powerful swim saw her through and the significance of the achievement was clear for everyone to see as Halsall allowed her emotions to show in interview.
"It's been so hard for me to come back from the operation and not be where I want to be. To do that, I'm just so proud of myself," commented an emotional Halsall after the race.
She continued in the pool to take gold in the 100m freestyle on day 6. It was a battle of Loughborough’s best as Amy Smith finished just 0.3 seconds behind Halsall to take silver. On the final day a re-match was set in the 50m freestyle with Halsall once again finishing on top to take her second gold of the championships.
Fran’s ankle injury first developed in 2009 after she fell whilst running however she was able to overcome it during the 2009 season as she became the first Briton to take 5 medals at a single championship during the Europeans.
Her strength and determination was further demonstrated at the commonwealth games as she battled against injury and the infamous “Delhi Belly” yet still achieved medal success in the 50m fly as well as team relays.
With the surgery now complete, and her form returning, hopes for this summer’s world championships and of course 2012 can rebuild.
Halsall herself is looking forward to the summer world championships having taken confidence from this week’s championships; “I know by the summer I’ll be ready to go and bang it out, hopefully a gold in Shanghai”.
LSUTV will be hosting a live broadcast of the BUCS Swimming Championship live this Saturday afternoon.
