Filed under: Other Sports, Swimming, Olympics
What is your sporting definition of the word "tough"?Is it England rugby coach Martin Johnson?
Or boxer David Haye?
Or football manager Sir Alex Ferguson?
Everybody has their own opinion as to who, in the sporting world, encapsulates toughness but few can claim to embody the phrase as much as British swimmer Fran Halsall.
To look at Halsall, "tough" would be one of the last words you used to describe her but then tough does not necessarily have to mean overtly muscular and physically dominating; it can also sum up somebody's mental strength, their willingness to endure pain and their own belief in their own abilities.
And Halsall ticks each and every one of those boxes - and then some.
She recently went under the knife to fix a serious ligament problem she picked up after going over awkwardly on her ankle yet fast forward just three months and she was on the podium at Manchester Aquatics Centre on Thursday claiming gold in the 100m freestyle final at the British Gas National Swimming Championships which followed the 100m butterfly silver she picked up on Sunday.
Thus, while most people would still be on crutches, still be feeling sorry for themselves and still wondering how long it will take them to get back to full fitness, Halsall was in the pool making her dreams come true.
That is why she is toughness personified.
Her behaviour also offers further comforting evidence that British swimming will be heading for a bumper crop at the World Championships in Shanghai later this year before the London Olympics come flying over the horizon at an ever faster rate.
She said: "It was about racing tough and but when it comes down to racing I am your girl.
"It is just about getting my spark back and I need to work on that now but I am sure it will come with time. It was a good 100m for me and the fastest one I have managed this year so I am happy with that.
"I'm hopeful of getting to swim in two events in Shanghai so I need to focus on the 50m now.
"It is good to be nervous though because this is what it is going to be like going for an Olympic place next year and I know I am going to have to fight for that.
"It was a real battle because of the nerves and because I am still recovering so it is satisfying to come back and qualify here.
"Before we started I had in my head I was going to win. You've got to think like that to win, haven't you? I didn't really think about it much. I just got on with it and did my job and had to dig in at the end."
"Digging in" seems to be Halsall's speciality. And if the rest of the Great Britain swimming team can follow her into battle, then the future looks very bright indeed.
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