Local swimmer also gets a bronze medal and 2 personal bests
Local athlete Elizabeth Tinkler has made an incredibly successful debut at The British Down Syndrome swimming championships.
The competition featured more than 130 athletes from novice to elite, aged between 10 – 50, across 44 events.
Elizabeth came away with a gold and bronze medal, gaining personal best times in both events.
There's currently is no Paralympic category for swimmers with Down syndrome to swim under, meaning they have to compete as intellectual disadvantaged athletes.
However, this doesn’t take into account their physical disabilities, meaning that they don’t get a chance to compete.
As well as using it as a GB talent recruitment pool, the aim of the British Down Syndrome Swimming Championships is to bring awareness to Down syndrome swimming as a sport and call for the Paralympics to change their rules and open up a DS category to ensure a level playing field.