A TEAM of swimmers came home with a haul of medals and personal best times from the 2017 Special Olympics Great Britain National Summer Games.

Around 400 athletes took part in the swimming events at the Games, aimed at those with a learning disability and held every four years, with all seven of the swimmers representing the southern region from Basingstoke as were two of the coaches, Clare Kelly and Tony Bamberger.

At the games, Cameron Lloyd won gold in 50m backstroke and achieved two PBs while Ciarán Kelly won gold in the 1500m freestyle, silver in the 200m freestyle, bronzes in the 400m freestyle and the 100m fly, gaining PBs in all races.

Elsewhere, Jamie Joyce won a silver in the 200m freestyle and gained three PBs, Jessica Draper won two golds in the 50m freestyle and 25m fly, with two PBs, Joseph Pavey achieved PBs in the 50m freestyle and 25m backstroke and Joe Rose won a silver in the 50m freestyle and secured three PBs.

Meanwhile, Scott Howe won gold in the 50m fly, silver in the 50m freestyle with three PBs overall. The southern region medley relay team, consisting of Jamie, Scott, Ciarán and Joseph, finished fourth in the 200m event .

Mr Bamberger said: "It was an amazing experience for everyone and that all the swimmers' hard work and effort over the last year clearly paid off.

"We would like to thank SunLife Financial of Canada for their very generous financial support as well as Basingstoke Lions, Basingstoke Bluefins and Reading Cygnets for the extra training pool time and especially parents and families for their unwavering support."

The games featured 2,600 athletes participating in 19 sports. All participants took up residence in Sheffield Hallam University for the week of events August 7-12.