2011 World Deaf Swimming Championships in Coimbra.
3rd World Deaf Swimming Championship, Coimbra, Portugal
Head Coachs Report
I am pleased to report that our GB Swim Deaf Team was very successful; even though the standard of swimming has increased slightly since the last Deaflympic in 2009 the swimmers did themselves proud.
A total of 167 swimmers from 29 countries participated in the World Deaf Swimming Championships.
The British team achieved 1 gold, 2 silver and 5 bronze medals, which are the best results since the World Deaf Games held in 1989.
Gold
Callum Ross 400IM - British record
Silver
Callum Ross 200 IM - British record
Hannah Fitton 200 IM
Bronze
Hannah Fitton 200 FC
Hannah Fitton 50 FC - British record
Jack McComish 1500m Freestyle
Callum Ross 400m Freestyle
Hannah Fitton 400m Freestyle
There were 19 finalists from the GB Team, apart from the medallists the following swimmers achieved positions in their respective finals:
Hannah Fitton: 5th - 50M freestyle
7th - 100M freestyle
Callum Ross: 5th - 200M Fly
Jack McComish: 5th - 400IM
6th - 200M Breast
8th - 400M Freestyle
8th - 50M Breast
8th - 100M Breast
Sam Chamberlain: 6th - 100M Breast
7th - 50M Breast
Alexander Cranford and 14 year old, Lucy Walkup, just missed out by a few tenths of the seconds to make the finals in the 200 IM and 100 Breast respectively. Both came 9th in their event and swam PBs.
Many records were broken during the championships:
Callum Ross achieved a World Championship record and a European record in 400m IM.
British records were broken an amazing 14 times. There were also 13 Scottish Deaf records broken by 3 Scottish swimmers (Callum Ross, Jack McComish and Lucy Walkup) whilst 3 Welsh swimmers (Sam Chamberlain, Luke Nixon and Emily Noden) achieved 12 Welsh Deaf records.
British Records
Hannah Fitton 50m Freestyle 27.66 previously 28.1 since 2009
50m Fly 30.48 previously 30.78 since 2009
100m Fly 1.07.41 previously 1.09.07 since 1990
Hannah Fitton, Annabel Towns, Lucy Walkup and Emily Noden broke the 4 x 100 Freestyle record in a time of 4.17.20 previously 4.24.87 since 2005
Alexander Cranford 50m Back 30.08 previously 30.88 since 2009
Callum Ross 50m Fly 27.34 previously 27.39 since July 2011
200m Fly 2.11.17 previously 2.11.94 since 1985
400m IM 4.38.43 previously 2.42 14 since July 2011
200m IM 2.11.17 previously 2.17.09 since July 2011
100m FC (R) 54.56 previously 54.60 since 1985
200m FC (R) 1.57.46 previously 1.57.73 since 1986
Callum Ross, Jack McComish, Tom Baxter and James Webster broke the 4 x 100 Freestyle record in a time of 3.44.67 previously 3.45.15 since 1989
Callum Ross, Jack McComish, Alexander Cranford and James Webster also broke the 4 x 200 Freestyle record in a time of 8.11.37 previously 8.21.15 since 2006
Alexander Cranford, Jack McComish, Callum Ross and James Webster broke the 4 x 100 IM record in a time of 4.12.46, previously 4.15.64
Probably the loudest support from the GB supporters came during the mens 4 x 200 freestyle. The team swam their heart out and just missed out on a bronze medal by 0.05 seconds! The USA team touched ahead of the British team to take 3rd place. Many thanks, to the GB supporters, for cheering on the team and proudly waving the Great Britain flags, throughout the competition.
GB sent a team of 13 swimmers to the championships. 54 personal best times were recorded in no less than 75 events. Two of GBs younger swimmers Luke Nisted (15) and Oliver Kenny (13) competed in their first international event.
Overall the British swimming team came 7th which was a big improvement on the last world championships in 2007 where the team finished 12th. The biggest competition still came from the USA, Russia and Belarus, which were the top three countries respectively.
Finally, I would like to give a massive thanks to Vincent Dickson for all the hard work on the administration side. This was Vincents last championships as he now stands down from his role after 14 years. I would also like to thank Martin Lee for his tremendous support. Ann Nixon for her photography role and the entire swimmers home coaches for putting them through their paces every week.
Angela Holmes A.I.S.T, F.I.S.T.C (CC)
Coach for the Great Britain Deaf Swimming Club
August 2011