Story
Jack is 15 and a Student at Woodside school in Belvedere where he is studying sports and leisure. Jack has Down Syndrome and has recently been selected as a member of the Down Syndrome Swimming Great Britain (DSS-GB) team who will be heading to the DSISO World Championships in Canada this July.
We are looking to raise funds to send Jack to Truro in Nova Scotia where he will compete at both junior and senior level in 7 events.
Jack was 5 when his doctor advised that swimming would be good for his physical development. Jack started at Sharks disability swim club in Mottingham once a week where he spent 4 years learning to swim. At 9 Jack started to swim in club galas and was soon winning medals. In late 2016 Jack was spotted at a local gala by one of the DSS-GB swim coaches who invited him to their next training weekend for a try out.
Jack was invited to join the squad and immediately set about training to achieve the qualifying times for the 2017 European Championships. Jack achieved his targets within the qualifying period and at 14 was named as the youngest male member of the thirty strong squad who competed in Paris from October 30th till 4th November last year.
Jack achieved 3 personal best times in Paris and won his 50m freestyle heat and came second in his heat for the 100m freestyle. Paris was a fantastic experience for him and the team were crowned European Champions.
Jack has more recently competed at a European Open Downs Syndrome swimming competition in Southampton where he won gold in the 25m Freestyle. He is currently 0.16 of a second off the junior European record for the event and is pool training 4 days a week in the hope of bringing medals and records home from Canada in July. Any support to help Jack achieve his goal would be really appreciated.
Jack also plays football for Charlton 'Upbeats' Down Syndrome football team and to promote the Upbeats charity walk he recently took part in a swimming challenge against two of the Charlton first team players.
Video of the swim can be seen on the link below
