Grant Halsall

Class: Freshman Hometown: Laxey, Isle of Man, GBR Height: 6-5

Event: Back/Fly

2012-13:Stepped right in as an important member of Northwestern's breaststroke and individual medley groups ... Ranked on NU's top times list in five different events, owning the Wildcats' best time in the 200 breast while ranking second in the 400 IM and 100 breast, third in the 200 IM and fourth in the 200 fly ... Earned second swims in all three of his Big Ten Championships events with NCAA `B' consideration times ... Dropped 4.79 seconds from his seed in the prelims of the 200 breast to swim a `B' effort of 1:57.91 and qualify for the scoring consolation final, where he further lowered that time to 1:57.30 to score three points for NU in 14th place ... His 1:57.30 made him the third-fastest Wildcat in the 200 breast in program history ... Dropped 2.04 seconds from his seed in the 100 breast to pick up a `B' cut of 55.05 before finishing 21st overall after a 55.25 in the bonus final ... Made a massive 8.5 second improvement from his seed in the 400 IM to make the bonus final of that event in a `B' time of 3:53.07 before going even faster at night to take 19th place with a 3:52.29 ... Won the 200 breast at Northwestern's own four-team TYR Invitational (11/16-11/18) with a 2:03.16, dropping 3.16 seconds from his prelim time ... Made five total championship finals at the TYR, also earning runner-up status in the 400 IM, third-place points in the 100 breast and 200 IM and sixth-place points in the 50 breast ... After entering the 400 IM field at the TYR with a seed time of 4:10.03, lowered that to 4:07.11 in the prelims and 4:01.57 in the finals ... Chopped 3.74 seconds off his prelim time in the 200 IM with a 1:53.81 in the finals ... Dominant in the 200 breast during the year, finishing in the top three in the race every time he swam it, including wins or top-two finishes in every meet after the TYR ... Scored dual-meet points with 15 top-five finishes ... Won the 200 breast at Milwaukee (1/16) ... Was second in both the 100 and 200 breast events against Purdue (11/3) ... Swam a then-season-best 2:02.12 to finish second in the 200 breast and a then-season-best 57.09 in the 100 breast at Iowa (1/26).

High School: Ranked as the No. 16 overall recruit in the 2012 class by CollegeSwimming.com... Fastest 18-and-under backstroker in his native Great Britain, ranking fourth all-time in that nation ... Also a strong butterflyer ... Nominated for a Sporting Achiever "achievement over adversity" award in 2011 ... After breaking his elbow in 2010, he recovered enough to qualify for the British teams at the 2011 European Junior Championships and World Junior Championships, but a glandular fever rendered him bed-ridden for six weeks and a broken hand in practice caused him to again miss both meets ... On his 18th birthday, he cut off his own cast for a few days of swimming prior to the Commonwealth Youth Games on his native Isle of Man, winning three medals as the team's captain ... Swam club with Plymouth Leader/Isle of Man/Douglas as a prep athlete.

HALSALL'S PERSONAL BESTS