The Isle of Wight’s Zac Lacey topped of a successful calendar year by retaining his 200m and 50m Butterfly titles at the British Down Syndrome Swimming Championships at the weekend.
The competition, at the K2 Leisure Centre in Crawley, is the pinnacle for swimmers with Down Syndrome in Great Britain and brings together over 130 swimmers from across Great Britain to swim amongst their peer group.
Zac competed in 6 events and retained his titles from 2022 in the 200m Butterfly and 50m Butterfly events and then gained 4 more silver medals over the 2-day competition in the 400m Freestyle, 100 Individual medley, 100m Butterfly and 50m Backstroke.
2023 has been a busy year for Zac with the European Championships and the Virtus Global Games competitions and in total he has received 10 individual and 3 team relay, podium medals.
Zac, a local talented athlete, has become an experienced member of Down Syndrome Swimming Great Britain (DSS-GB) over the last 7 years. His efforts not only in the water, but also his hard work at training camps and helping to develop younger swimmers within the squad, has been recognised by the Outgoing Head Coach of DSS-GB, Keith Hall. He awarded Zac the DSS-GB Swimmer of the Year trophy for 2023.
Zac would like to thank all of his coaches and colleagues at Seaclose Swimming Club and the Isle of Wight Council Talented Athlete Scheme and the support with travel that Wightlink continues to allow him as part of the scheme.
Absolutely brilliant, well done Zac!