Robin Francis
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robin James Francis | |||||||||||||||||||||
| National team |
 Great Britain | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born |
20 April 1982 Durban, South Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 107 kg (236 lb; 16.8 st) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Individual Medley, Breaststroke, Freestyle | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | University of Bath | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Andrei Vorontsov | |||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Robin James Francis (born 20 April 1982) is a South African-born former international swimmer who represented Great Britain at the Olympic Games, World and European Championships.
Francis was a two-time European silver medallist in the 400 metre individual medley (2001, 2003). He also won silver at the 2004 World Championships in the same event. His 2001 performance was the fifth fastest in history and ranked him second in the world. As a result he was awarded with the prestigious 'Best International Newcomer' Award.
Francis was drafted in at short notice to compete in the men's 4 x 200-metre freestyle relay at the 2003 World Championships finishing sixth and earning Great Britain a place in the 2004 Olympic Games. He posted the fastest team split of 1.48.53.
At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Francis competed in the men's 200-metre individual medley, reaching the semi-final, and the 400-metre individual medley finishing 12th.
Junior International Career
Francis won numerous Junior International medals, most notably two Bronze at the Youth Olympic Games in 1997 and Silver at the Junior European Championships in 2000.
British Championships
Francis dominated both Medley events nationally over a period of four years breaking seven Senior British Records.
Set backs
His desire to coach stems from the disappointment he encountered in 2002 when he was forced to withdraw from the Commonwealth Games in Manchester due to suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome. Francis qualified in the 200-metre individual medley, 400-metre individual nedley, and 200-metre breaststroke and was ranked in the top three for all. Unfortunately he had to witness medals being won in these events in slower times than he had previously achieved.
Coaching
Francis has been a professional coach since 2006. He has successfully headed programmes in South Africa and the UK, and coached at Kelly College (now Mount Kelly) for four years. During this time he coached Hannah Russell to become World Champion in the 2013 IPC World Championships in Montreal, Canada.