British success at Samsun 2017 Deaflympics

British swimmers made their mark at the 23rd Deaflympics which are currently taking place in Samsun, Turkey.

The swimming events kicked off on Thursday 20 July and finished on 26 July. There were a number of medals and British records set over the six days of competition.

GB set new British record in 4x100m freestyle

The British quartet of Nathan Young, Danielle Joyce, Shiona McClafferty and Jack McCormish claimed a bronze medal in the Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Relay on the opening night. The four swimmers lowered the British record to 3:49.00 to make the final spot on the podium. This is following a fantastic morning swim from Jazz Seamarks, who stood in for the heats.

City of Cambridge swimmer Seamarks commented: “To swim in the relay heats and come away with a British record and a medal in the final was beyond my wildest dreams. Having the backstroke ledge break fail in my heat and having to swim a solo heat with the capacity crowd stand and cheering will remain with me for ever.”

@DeaflympicsGB we finish the swimming with a NEW BRITISH in the 4x100m Free, great swims from Young, Baxter, Holdbrook, McCormish..SMASHED pic.twitter.com/6OC7S9eB5Y

— nigel seamarks (@NigelSeamarks) July 26, 2017

Scotland’s Jack McCormish and Danii Joyce won individual medal for GB with McCormish taking gold and two bronze medals, and Joyce taking two golds and one bronze

Solid performances from the English contingent

Although English swimmers didn’t make their way onto the podium at the Deaflympics, there were some sterling efforts. Kieran Holbrook finished fifth in a tough field in the 400m IM. The London based swimmer touched in 5:03.95.

Oliver Kenny, who was competing in his second Deaflympics, made his way into the 200m backstroke final. The race was always going to be tough, with world record holder Matthew Klotz looking to maintain his title. The American lowered his own world record to 2:01.96. Kenny finished in eighth with a time of 2:21.55.

Kenny also finished seventh in the 100m backstroke in a time of 1:05.26, and in the 200m IM with 2:19.30.

He commented on his experience: “I am over the moon to make so many finals. It was great to swim aside Klotz (USA), and achieve massive PBs. I am aiming to make the 2021 Games. It made me smile when my home coach tweeted I had been holding back my best swims for the Deaflympics.”

• Click here to see full swimming results from the 2017 Deaflympics in Samsun.