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 Ab McDonald Jersey . In a pregame tribute commemorating his final contest at Coors Field on Wednesday night, Helton caught the ceremonial first pitch from his daughter with his wife, younger daughter and good friend Peyton Manning watching from the field. Paul Martin Jersey . PAUL, Minn. https://www.cheappenguinsjersey.com/2021...y-penguins.html. She still remembers the massive roar of the home crowd when the Canadians walked out on the pitch before 47,784 fans at Commonwealth Stadium in 2002. Lang expects a similar reception for the Canadian team as the host nation at this years tournament, which begins Tuesday. Rick Macleish Jersey . Chelsea took until the second half to trouble the leagues bottom team, but Schuerrle then ripped through the defence with ease at Craven Cottage to keep Jose Mourinhos side on track for the title. Jean-Sebastien Aubin Jersey . The No. 23 seed at the first Grand Slam event of the tennis season has worked out all the details, from his training regime right down to where hes going to eat dinner.NEW YORK, N.Y. - Forget slapstick and sex in Super Bowl ads: This year, serious was the name of the game.Nationwide ran an ad on preventable childhood death. Carnival struck a sombre note with a voiceover by John F. Kennedy speaking lyrically about the sea. And a public service announcement by coalition No More depicted a chilling 911 call from a battered woman to demonstrate the terror of domestic abuse.Other advertisers had positive, albeit equally serious themes: McDonalds said it would let some customers pay with acts of kindness, Coca-Cola showed online negativity and bullying turning positive and Procter & Gambles ad for its Always feminine products brand tried to redefine what it means to do things like a girl.Its a shame there arent any commercials for antidepressants because these commercials make me want some, said Jon Early, who was watching the game in New York with friends. Football is supposed to be an escape.The serious tone is an effort to win over Americans who have a lower tolerance for crass ads with an overuse of sexually explicit themes and sophomoric humour. They also have short attention spans these days, thanks to the bite-sized communication of social media.The serious spots were a continuation of a trend that started last year when advertisers shied away from the tactics that had been commonplace during Super Bowl. The difference this year is that many of the serious ads had an overarching message to live better, think better and be better.With 30-second ads costing $4.5 million for the chance to market their brand to 110-plus million Americans, advertisers were trying to stand out by marketing socially conscious messages. In the process, they hoped to boost the image of their brands.The Super Bowl reflects whats happening in the country, said Tim Calkins, a marketing professor at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. Maybe in the country today were a little more reflective and a little more pensive.SERIOUS TONEA Microsoft ad with a voiceover by rapper Common told the story of Braylon ONeill, a boy who was born missing the tibia and fibula bones in both of his legs so he had to learn to live with prosthetic legs developed by Microsoft.The ad struck some similar notes with Toyotas Camry ad, which featured Paralympian Amy Purdy, who also has prosthetic legs snowboarding and dancing set to a speech by Muhammad Ali that ends Ill show you how great I am.Some serious ads bordered on sober. Nissan returned to the Super Bowl after 18 years with an ad featuring the story line of ann up-and-coming race driver and his wife struggling to balance work and raising their son.dddddddddddd In a jarring detail that many on social media pointed out, the ad was set to Cats in the Cradle by Harry Chapin, who was killed in a car crash.And a Nationwide ad showed a boy riding a school bus and lamenting hell never learn to fly, or travel the world with my best friend, or even grow up, because he died in an accident. The ad was aimed at stopping preventable childhood accidents, but Charles Taylor, marketing professor at the Villanova School of Business in Pennsylvania, said it received the most negative response from his ad viewing panel.Its just playing with fire focusing on an adolescents death in the context of the Super Bowl, he said.POSITIVE BUT SERIOUSOther advertisers tried to implore people to do positive things.In apparent commentary on how heavily food companies market to Americans, Weight Watchers Super Bowl debut ad showed pizza, doughnuts in large portions with an ominous voiceover saying You gotta eat, right? A tagline said Weight Watchers can help members take control.But it didnt resonate with all viewers, many of who were at Super Bowl parties eating snacks. Some people are saying it made them want to eat more than anything, said Villanovas Taylor.Meanwhile, fast food chain McDonalds announced it will randomly select customers who can pay for their food with acts of goodwill, such as calling their moms and telling them they love them as part of a Valentines Day promotion that starts Monday.Humour IN BETWEENNot all ads were serious, though.Nationwides other ad showed Mindy Project star Mindy Kaling walking around New York believing she is invisible and doing scandalous acts, including sitting naked in Central Park and going through a car wash. Then, she tries to kiss actor Matt Damon, but as it turns out, he can see her. The idea is Nationwide doesnt treat customers like theyre invisible.Naomi Zikmund-Fisher, a psychotherapist watching the game in Ann Arbor, Michigan, said the ad appealed to her. It sucked you in as a plot and then ruined it for her, she said.Another ad scored early. Chevrolets spot before kickoff appeared to be a live game feed that turned into static and a blank screen, shocking some viewers. Chevrolet used the trick to show that its Colorado truck has 4G LTE Wi Fi, allowing for live game streaming in the truck.That one got all of our attention, said Kirin Jessel, who watched the game with co-workers in Oakland, Calif. We were thinking Oh my God, whats happening. ' ' '