SWIMMER Suzanne Warren powered her way to four gold medals at the European Masters Games.

Last year’s Tendring Sports Personality of the Year, from Holland-on-Sea, exceeded all expectations at the event in Nice.

She struck gold in the 50 metres freestyle, 100m butterfly, 100m backstroke, in which she clocked a personal best (PB) time, and 50m fly.

And an added bonus was receiving the latter from Olympic medallist Charlotte Bonnet.

“I had athletes from all around the world coming up and congratulating me on my performance,” said Warren, who finished the last Para-swimming season on a high after being ranked number one in all her S4 events.

“The crowd and other swimmers were so supportive and the atmosphere was fantastic.

“It was a very demanding week but I was so pleased to return home with four golds, in addition to a new PB in the 100m backstroke.

“My previous best had been set last year.

“However, that was before a significant deterioration in my physical impairment, making it an even greater achievement.

“In addition to the medals, it was also an opportunity to gain some valuable international experience.

“It was by far the biggest and most challenging event I’ve participated in and I couldn’t have got through it without the support of my mum (and carer), who is absolutely amazing.”

Warren’s first gold came in the 50m freestyle, recording a time of one minute and 3.85 seconds, and she repeated the feat in the 100m fly, clocking 2m 29s.

After a very successful first day, she then needed to retain her focus for two more events.

In the 100m backstroke, a time of 2m 13.09s was good enough to win gold and set a new PB.

Last up was one of Warren’s strongest events, the 50m fly, and she duly produced a strong performance to win in 1m 3s.

“The goal of the European Masters Games is to encourage participation in sport and competition and camaraderie are equally celebrated,” said the 36-year-old, the holder of 11 British records and 18 regional records, in a range of events in both the S5 and S4 classifications.

“The able-bodied swimmers were so pleased that disability swimmers competed and hopefully they’ll now go back to their own countries and help promote or even follow disability swimming.”

The Games featured 6,500 participants, 1,200 volunteers and 27 different sports in 40 venues across Nice.

Nine of the sports featured Para-athletes.

Warren now switches her focus to this weekend’s London Disability Championships, where she will be competing in order to secure times for December’s National Championships.