18th July 2016

ANDREW REES BECOMES THE FIRST BRITISH DEAF SOLO SWIMMER OF THE CHANNEL

UK Deaf Sport is very pleased to congratulate Andrew Rees following his successful solo channel swim this weekend. He becomes the first solo British deaf swimmer to make the swim of over 21 miles from England to France.

Exactly a year to go to the 2017 Deaflympics, Andrew swam the channel to raise awareness and essential funds for Deaf athletes, who receive no support from central government in the same way as other disabled athletes do.

Piers Martin, UK Deaf Sport Executive Chair said: “We are extremely pleased to be celebrating Andrew as the first deaf Brit to swim the channel. To swim over 21 miles in a pool is hard enough, to do it in the cold and turbulent environment of the channel is tougher still and to be a deaf athlete makes this an epic achievement.”

Craig Crowley, Honorary President of UK Deaf Sport commented: “It was such a monumental effort by Herculean proportions from Andrew. His solo swim took guts, preservation and sheer determination and we are extremely proud of his truly amazing achievement!”

ENDS—————————–

Other relevant links:
Andrew’s Channel Swim 2016 Facebook Page
Just Giving page
Enquiries GB Deaf Swimming:
Margaret Baxter
Secretary, GB Deaf Swimming Club
www.gbdeafswimming.org
Tel: 07713 739893, 01372 464761

About UK Deaf Sport

UK Deaf Sport is the National Governing Body for Deaf Sport in the UK. Our vision is to ensure that every deaf person is active and inspired by sport.
UK Deaf Sport is also responsible for DeaflympicsGB, the team selected to represent Great Britain at the Deaflympics. The Deaflympics is an International Olympic Committee (IOC) sanctioned event for deaf athletes around the World.

For further information please contact, visit or follow us:
admin@ukds.org.uk
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