British Olympic Trials: Fran Halsall Matches Textile Best on Final Day

LONDON, England, March 9. THE last day of qualifying at the British Olympic Trials featured two national events, and an international finale, as the Olympic Test Event came to a close at the London Aquatics Center.

FINALS
Women's 50 free
FINA A: 25.27, British Second-place Qualifier: 25.10
Fran Halsall topped the world in the splash-and-dash with a 24.13 for the victory. That swim ended a back-and-forth battle she had had with Marleen Veldhuis (24.49) throughout guest competition and Trials qualifying this week. Halsall nearly broke her British record of 24.11, and tied the textile best of 24.13 posted by Inge De Bruijn at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Overall, Halsall's time tied for 12th on the performances chart.

Amy Smith finished second in 24.80, earning the second spot on the Olympic roster for Britain. She moved to third in the world behind Veldhuis, and ahead of Therese Alshammar (24.86) this year.

Jessica Lloyd (25.69), Emma Wilkins (25.71), Sophie Smith (25.74), Rebecca Turner (25.88), Georgina Heyn (25.97) and Hannah McCarthy (26.27) also competed in the finale.

Men's 1500 free
FINA A: 15:11.83, British Second-place Qualifier: 15:07.10
Daniel Fogg topped the men's metric mile in 14:55.30, while David Davies placed second in 15:00.73. Both swimmers easily made the Olympic roster with their swims. Fogg moved to second in the world behind Tae Hwan Park's 14:47.38 from last month, while Davies now stands third in the world. Davies has now qualified for three straight Olympics, having already swam for Britain at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.

Jack Burnell (15:20.13), Lewis Smith (15:24.33), Joel Knight (15:24.92), Richard Charlesworth (15:26.61), Thomas Sunter (15:27.65) and Martin Cremin (15:31.57) provided the rest of the championship finale finishes.

GUEST FINAL
Devon Myles Brown of South Africa won the men's 1500 free in 15:17.66, while China's Mingjian Zheng took second in 15:37.88. China's Haobo Wei rounded out the top three in 15:38.72.

Name*

Email*

Welcome to our community. We invite you to join our discussion. Our community guidelines are simple: be respectful and constructive, keep on topic, and support your fellow commenters. Commenting signifies that you agree to our Terms of Use