Smith and Hall secured starts at next years British Open at Royal Birkdale, as

She describes herself on Twitter as 70 per cent professional athlete, 10 per cent rockstar and the rest involves doughnuts. Outside of the pool, swimmer Fran Halsall admits to showing off, dancing at every opportunity, listening to 70s rock and taking her hairy hound Blu to important meetings.In the coming weeks, that 70 per cent will rise for the GB star who has qualified for her third Olympics and was recently Queen of the European Championships, winning five medals, including three gold. But dont think the fun will completely cease in Brazil. The Southport-born 26-year-old opens up about her character in and out of the water, how the pain of missing out on a medal at London 2012 is driving her on and how being Sky Academy Sports Scholar boosted her.If I had to sum myself up, Id say confident, smiley and resilient. Im Xena: Warrior Princess!Its just that I can be a bit of a diva when I want to be. My coach would suggest I like to be the centre of attention - or a show off!If there was karaoke on Id be the one dancing. I love music - from Deep Purple to Taylor Swift. It depends on what mood Im. I like to listen to gangsta rap before I race. I wont be the one with my head down and headphones on, Ill be the one singing trying to get everybody to sing along with me!What Ive learnt in over 10 years on the British team is that being resilient is a very important part of being an athlete. Halsall (second right) and current Scholar Siobhan-Marie OConnor (right) enjoyed relay glory at the Euros Its how you deal with the poor performances and not meeting targets and turning it into a positive. Not achieving hurts but its the analysing what you did right and what you did wrong. The quicker you understand that the better it will be for you to move forward in your career.That was the main thing that followed London 2012. That was hard and every athletes dream is to win an Olympic medal so it took time to deal with that. Now Im just excited to be going to another Olympics. The London Games was an amazing experience in front of a home crowd and watching everybody else in Team GB in all the other sports. But I missed a medal by 0.08 seconds in the 50m freestyle.So London was a bitter / sweet experience for me. My race I just didnt get right and I was very disappointed. I took two months off after the Olympics and reassessed everything.I got a new coach and a new programme and set myself new targets and became more focused on the 50 rather than the 100. I won a bronze at the World Championships in Barcelona so that was a nice year after London. Xena: Warrior Princess is probably pretty handy in the pool as well It was all about taking some of the pressure off and enjoying it again. I was delighted with that.Being on the Scholarship scheme in the build-up to the 2012 Games was amazing for me though. Even after London I came back to Sky Sports and did work experience.Im interested in the media and what happens behind the scenes so I learnt loads of things like how to build and develop a story. I met some of the presenters and looked at all these things thinking about what I could do after my swimming career.The link with Sky and getting access to that has been brilliant.Seeing my big face on the billboards was interesting! Luckily I had goggles on so you couldnt tell it was me so much!One of the other Scholars Liam Tancock trains in my squad and Ive got a great relationship with him. Its been amazing sharing experiences and talking about preparations and getting an insight to other athletes and what they go through. Thats all been fantastic. Fran secured five medals at the European Championships in London The last few weeks in the pool have been great. I did really well at the Europeans and I got through the Rio trials which is actually tougher than the Olympics.Its all about qualifying and I did! It was a good week. After January I put in plenty of work and hopefully that should stand me in good stead for this Olympic cycle.Its the 11th time Ive won at a British Championships and so its like a time trial rather than an actual race. I find it hard to get myself up for it and motivated.You think about a World Championship or Commonwealth Games when all the best swimmers are there and the atmosphere is electric. In a race like a 50m sprint that helps. You get the extra adrenaline and atmosphere builds.At a trials there are few people watching like its just mum and dad in the stands! I find that difficult. Im just so pleased I was able to put in a world class performance.Most of us didnt know we had made the Rio squad until a week after. For London it was announced there and then and there was a parade which was nice but it was good getting all emotional telling my parents Id made Rio on the phone. Fran and her trusty four-legged friend Blu Im very excited about the Olympics but I dont want to get too excited too soon! I want to build it up nicely. Now weve had the Euros it starts to get tense with a big block of work. I just want to make sure my skills are right and my fitness is good.Im not thinking about Olympic medals or anything like that. Its just about getting from A to B. Having said that, if I got on the podium there would be some Prosecco and Id be with my boyfriend, parents and my dog.My dog is a sproodle - a cross between an English Springer Spaniel and Poodle. Hes crazy as anything but hes so cute. He comes everywhere with me - he even came to Glasgow for the trials.He also goes into the changing rooms at the rugby with my boyfriend [St Helens rugby league captain Jon Wilkin]. Hell also have a haircut with me at the same time and I take him to meetings with solicitors - hes more of a rock star than me. WHATS COMING UP FOR OUR SCHOLARS27 MAY: Lucy Garner, Boels Hills Classic29 MAY: Lucy Garner, Gooik10-16 JUNE: IPC Athletics European Championships in Grosseto, Italy23-26 JUNE: Lucy Garner, National Road Cycling Championships in Stockton-on-Tees Also See: About the Scholarship Meet the athletes Blogs Videos Galleries Ray Lewis Youth Jersey . - Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco is not a fan of his teams use of the wildcat formation, saying "it makes you look like a high school offence. Ray Lewis Womens Jersey .25 million option on reliever Jose Veras. http://www.cheapravensshoponline.com/Youth-ben-powers-ravens-jersey/ . Oyama had six birdies and two bogeys at Kintetsu Kashikojima in the event also sanctioned by the Japan LPGA Tour. "I have been having this neck ache thats been affecting my golf recently," Oyama said. Marquise Brown Youth Jersey . The Masters champion and winner of last weeks Australian PGA has a three-round total of 14-under 199 at Royal Melbourne. "Im in a really good position for tomorrow," Scott said. Jaylon Ferguson Youth Jersey . -- In one brief spurt, Brazil turned a close game into a rout and proved again it will be a strong World Cup favourite. American Jordan Spieth has won the Australian Open for the second time in a thrilling three-man playoff at Royal Sydney Golf Club.Spieth drained a three-metre putt for birdie on the 18th hole to scupper the dreams of local hopes Cameron Smith and Ashley Hall on Sunday.The trio all finished the championship 72 holes at 12 under par, with Spieth draining a nerve-wracking two-metre putt on the last just to make the sudden-death playoff.Then, in a dramatic climax, Spieth put his approach to three metres on the first hole of the playoff - the 18th - before Hall knocked his to less than two metres.Displaying all the cool and class that helped him land last years Masters and US Open crowns, 23-year-old Spieth again buried his clutch putt before Hall pushed his birdie attempt right of the cup.Spieths victory follows his win at The Australian in 2014 and his runner-up showing last year at the same venue.His victory is also a big win for Open officials, with the world No.5 almost certain to return to again defend the trophy next year when the tournament moves back to The Australian.In a major consolation for the joint runneers-up, Smith and Hall secured starts at next years British Open at Royal Birkdale, as did two-time champion Aaron Baddeley, who finished in a five-way tie for fourth at 10 under, two shots out of the playoff.ddddddddddddBaddeley closed with a one-under 71 and edged out Rod Pampling (70), Jason Scrivener (69), New Zealander Ryan Fox (71) and third-round leader Geoff Ogilvy (73) by virtue of his superior world ranking.After starting the day with a two-stroke lead, Ogilvy looked the likely winner for much of the afternoon before unravelling with a bogey on the par-4 15th and a catastrophic double on the easy par-5 16th.The former US Open champion struggled off the tee all day and his hopes of a second national title - to go with his 2010 triumph at The Lakes - evaporated after he drove into the trees and couldnt get out on 16.While he eventually signed for a disappointing 73, Hall and Smith both charged home with final-round six-under 66s to reel in Ogilvy, with Spieth closing with a 69. 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