The European women’s 400 free relay for the 2013 Duel in the Pool, scheduled for December 20th and 21st in Glasgow, Scotland, is looking pretty stout.
In addition to the previously-committed Charlotte Bonnet and Jeanette Ottesen will now be joined by Britain’s best Fran Halsall at the America-versus-Europe battle royale. Though neither Halsall nor Ottesen swam the 100 free at the Barcelona World Championships, at full taper both are capable of 53-lows in long course and sub-52’s in short course (Ottesen was the 2011 World Champion in LCM, after all).
The addition of the Brit Halsall also gives the Europeans another very good sprint butterflier (she’s been as fast as 57.40), and potentially a lane-filler in the 200 free and 200 IM, where she was very good as a younger swimmer.
Most importantly, Halsall is a fantastic short course swimmer, so she should be a big contributor in this meet.
Halsall, quipping that it would be “lots of racing” for her this winter, will also swim 4 of the 6 remaining stops on the FINA World Cup circuit, the European Short Course Championships, and as a part of the British Arena League that begins this Saturday in Liverpool.
