Wyre Forest Swimming Club's top coach John Howles gives his verdict on disabled swimmer Fran O'Connor, who set new British records in the 50m and the 100m freestyle race at the National Disability Swimming Championships in Sheffield over the weekend (read report) .


On Saturday Fran broke the British record twice in the 50m freestyle. At start of day was 36.88s seconds (done just three weeks ago) In the heat she swam 36.71 sec to improve it by 0.17sec Then in the final she reduced it again by another 0.7sec to record 36.06s.

The time needed to get to Beijing is 35.87sec, so she missed the qualification time by 0.19sec which represents about 11inches!

On Sunday Fran swam in the 100m freestyle; Once again at start of the day the British Record stood at one minute 22s.

By the time the evening was over Fran had took it down first to 1:20.62 (a two second improvement) and then took it under 80sec to 1:19.62 in the final, slicing off three seconds in a day.

However sometimes simple facts do not tell the whole story. So here is my view of Fran's weekend in Sheffield:
One phrase unites all great swimmers no matter what event they compete in - "Exceptional swimmers produce exceptional performances when under extreme pressure."

It is this above everything else that separates out the very best. Everyone works hard. Everyone has talent but all the best athletes somehow have the ability to deliver when it matters.

Everyone should understand that Fran is now one of the very best swimmers in the world. This weekend marked the true arrival of Fran O'Connor as a world class swimmer. Here are just some of the facts behind the facts so to speak:

Fran is now ranked sixth in the world in both 100m and 50m freestyle.
  • She is the only swimmer in the current world top 20 in her events to have improved this year
  • In May 2007 Fran's best time for 50m free was about 11sec behind the world record. She is now just 2.5s behind the it and in Sheffield she finished only 1.2s behind the world record holder in the 50m freestyle.
Her times in Sheffield would have secured her sixth in Athens Para Olympic Final in the 50m Free, seventh in Athens Para Olympic Final in the 100 Free, while in the last World Championships she would have finished fifth and sixth.

I know there is a slight disappointment in mot making the Beijing team - but Fran could not have come much closer! And this is just the start.

The most exciting thing for me is the RATE of progress Fran is making. A drop of 7seconds in the 50Free and over 12seconds in the 100 in a year is unprecedented.

Late last year Fran and I agreed goals of 35.5 for the 50 free and 1:18 for the 100 Free by the end of 2008. At the time these seemed a very long way away. I feel now we should be revising them downwards perhaps even as low as 34.5 and 1:16.

In May 2007 I met Anna from British Swimming for the first time in Holy Trinity pool. She said Fran was a "raw talent" and she was right.

Even now Fran is far from the finished article but today she is an accomplished swimmer who has come so far in such a short time. There is still a lot to do but one thing is certain, Sheffield 2008 marked the arrival of a very special athlete onto the world level, As coaches we recognise Fran's talent and times but be assured there are at least two other people around the Globe who are following her progress very closely indeed: Kirsten Bruhn (World record Holder) and Erin Popovich (Para Olympic Champion) Thanks to John Thorley and all the coaches at the club for the work they have put in with Fran - you are doing an excellent job.


John Howles