Nathan Young: As a Deaflympics swimmer, I receive zero support. Is this right?

Dealing with the immense restrictions we have all been faced with over last 8 months has, if anything, released time and space to observe the world/country in which we live.   A country which over years has created many challenges for me as a deaf child and now athlete.

As a GB Deaf swimmer I have competed and represented my country 4 times internationally. 

The highlight being my bronze medal achievement at the 23rd Deaflympics in Samsun, Turkey in 2017 as well as being ranked 5th in the world in a number of events.

Competing against fully funded swimmers from other countries and seeing what the support these athletes receive and how this impacts not only their performance but also their enthusiasm and hopes for the future. 

A very different experience to myself.  You see, at a guess I would say 99% of our country has never heard of the Deaflympics.

Why? Well that is something I ask myself frequently. Why when it is the second oldest multi-sporting event in the world? 

First was the Olympics which was then followed by the Deaflympics (previously known as International Silent Games) in 1924 and then 36 years later came the Paralympics in 1960. 

Why then are Olympic and Paralympic athletes, coaches and competitions fully funded and those under the Deaflympic umbrella receive no funding or just as important, no support? It is just crazy. 

It makes me think that just because I am deaf, do these people making decisions think that we do not hear, see and read what is going on?

I train 24+  hours a week, attend university – where I study Sport & Exercise Science – all the while having to fund all my training and competition costs, relying heavily on my parents and those who kindly donate (when I have to fund raise if I am heading to an international competition). All because I am deaf.  

As a deaf athlete it has always been in my mind to seek equality and fairness but during lockdown my wanting explanations and reasoning to this divide has been driven even more so as I troll through endless social media posts about the amazing achievements of our Olympic and Paralympic swimmers.

The support and training network they have and the continuous superior alliance guiding them to their future dreams and goals. That is something I do not have and have never had.  How can that be right? 

Dealing with lockdown has been extremely difficult for me as it has for many, but as I said it has given me time for thought, and so I decided with the help of my family to write and seek fairness in a country which believes and strives for disability equality in a world of much discrimination accumulating over decades. Or is this not true?

So I have written letters to Jack Buckner, CEO of British Swimming copies going to Jane Nickerson CEO of Swim England,  Oliver Dowden CBE (Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport), my local MP Angela Eagle and many others telling them my story, my experiences  and asking for answers. 

I didn’t expect to receive a reply but I did. It was pleasant, but as usual it didn’t in anyway provide constructive answers.  Instead it was a ‘pass the blame’ type of reply stating ‘We are funded to support Paralympic sport’. 

I already know that but surely over the years at some point someone must have thought ‘is this right?’

He also stated ‘Swim England does not receive funding for talent development for deaf swimmers because the pathway does not lead to Paralympic events’.  Exactly, again nothing I didn’t already know but how has this been allowed to happen? 

How on earth did someone come up with the idea that deaf athletes should not be funded but someone with a learning difficulty or blindness should be funded?  It still absolutely astounds me, the reality of it all.  S15 is an ASA Swim England category and we should receive the same recognition and support.

UK Sport gave £274,465,541 to the Rio Olympians and £72,786,652 to the summer Paralympians.   Deaflympians received nothing.  

The year is a huge year in the sporting world, with the Olympics, Parlympics and the Deaflympics.

We have for years missed out and been treated like a fallen branch, left on the ground open to the elements. I cannot watch this continue.  I want our future deaf children to aspire to be like their deaf Olympians.

To have hope that when standing on the block, competing in their first club swimming gala that they have a dream that one day they may themselves compete in the Deaflympics.  That their country is behind them, respected and proud. 

By Nathan Young

Twitter @NathanY06430573

YouTube: Nathan Young talks about life as a deaf swimmer

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