Britain's Fran Halsall is one of the world's biggest names in sprint swimming. A freestyle and butterfly specialist, Halsall is a five-time European medallist and is expected to add Olympic honours to her growing trophy cabinet at London 2012.

Halsall's talent was there for all to see when she won silver medals in the 4x100m freestyle and 4x100m medley relays at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006, despite being the youngest member of the Team England squad.

Her reputation grew at the European Championships in 2006, where she helped the 4x100m medley relay team take gold - a title Halsall and her team-mates would successfully defend in Eindhoven two years later.

Halsall became the most successful British swimmer at a single championships when she scooped five medals at the 2010 European Championships in Budapest, including two golds, two silvers and a bronze. Further triumphs were to follow at the Commonwealth Games later in the year. She set a new national record of 26.19 seconds to win the 50m butterfly, but was denied the chance to add a second gold in the 100m freestyle due to 'Delhi Belly' - instead settling for a courageous bronze. Her illness prevented her from qualifying for the 100m butterfly final but she returned to the pool later in the Games, adding three silvers to take her medal haul to five.

After struggling for months with an ankle injury, which she suffered while out running, Halsall opted to have surgery in December 2010 in order to be fully fit for London 2012. Amazingly, Halsall returned to top-level action at the British Championships in March 2011, with less than a month's full training behind her. She finished second in the 100m butterfly behind Ellen Gandy and won two gold medals in the 100m and 50m freestyle to complete a stunning comeback.

Career high
Winning five medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, despite being weak after suffering from illness.

Career low
The agonising ankle injury which cut short her 2010 season. She was in pain throughout the year and admits she failed to reach her peak as a result.

Quotes
"Afterwards, I lay by the practice pool close to passing out. My coach was trying to get me back on my feet while the doctor was feeding me with electrolytes and checking that I wasn't going to die on him. He seemed pretty worried, and so was I." Fran Halsall on her illness at the Commonwealth Games in India "The fact that I've been able to achieve what I did off not as much training as I would have liked to this year, it has made me think that if I get everything sorted and I'm fine coming into the next two years then hopefully I can achieve the goals that I've set myself." Fran Halsall, November 2010

Trivia
At the 2010 Commonwealth Games, Halsall began to sing the wrong England anthem, opting for Land of Hope and Glory instead of Jerusalem, which bellowed out over the PA system.