COLCHESTER Phoenix swimmers Helen Thompson and Mark Holmes produced record-breaking, medal-winning performances at the Down Syndrome World Championships, in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Both competed in eight individual races and also swam in relays, representing Great Britain.

Thompson, 15, entered as a junior which restricted her to shorter-distance events, rather than the longer distances she usually competes at.

She adjusted her competition schedule leading up to the World Championships to concentrate on sprint races and the effort paid off.

On the first day, she achieved a personal best (PB) time in the 50 metres breaststroke where she was the fastest junior swimmer and then also swam another PB in her 50m freestyle.

The second day brought even greater success with Thompson knocking over a second off her PB to win the bronze medal in the 25m butterfly.

There was no time to relax after the medal ceremony, though, as she was then swimming the third leg (butterfly) in the women’s 4x50m medley relay in another PB time.

This assisted her team into the afternoon final, where she swam even quicker to gain a fantastic fifth place.

Holmes is at the other end of the age range and, having recently turned 35, is now eligible to contest for Masters Two records.

He opened his week with world record-breaking swims in the 400m individual medley and 200m breaststroke with a five-second PB in the latter.

As a backstroke specialist for Team GB, he also competed in several relays, the first of which resulted in a fourth place in the 4x100m medley.

The next day saw more records tumble, with Holmes setting a new world record in the 200m individual medley and another in the 100m backstroke with a four-second PB that saw him achieve a magnificent fifth place in the open final later that day.

Another great performance in the 4x50m medley relay gained fourth place in the final for the GB team and later on that day in the 4x200m relay, Holmes helped his team go one better to win a well-deserved bronze.

The third day of the competition was the highlight for Thompson as she achieved a magnificent silver medal in the 25m breaststroke in a time that beat the old world record, just being pipped to gold by a record-breaking swim by a 16-year-old from France.

Another PB followed later in the morning in the 50m backstroke, with Thompson achieving the second fastest junior time in the race, albeit in her least favourite stroke.

The following day she swam another PB in the 25m freestyle and then knocked over two seconds off her PB in the 50m butterfly to again achieve the accolade of second fastest junior swimmer.

Day three and four also saw more PBs from Holmes with him using a 50m breaststroke swim as a warm-up to world record-breaking swims in the 200m backstroke and 50m backstroke, reaching the finals in both and smashing his 200m PB by over 12 seconds.

He rounded off the day with a 4x100m freestyle relay with the team achieving sixth place in the final.

The final day of the competition saw Thompson close her World Championships by knocking an incredible seven seconds off her PB in the 100m individual medley to be the fastest junior swimmer, just missing out on a place in the open final.

Holmes finished off with a Masters Two European record in the 200m butterfly and fifth place in the final of the 4x50m freestyle relay.

Colchester Phoenix head coach Julie Jago was able to watch many of the races from home, via the live steaming of the event.

“I’m not surprised at Helen’s and Mark’s great performances at the World Championships as both swimmers train hard, listen and follow instructions well," she said.

"They fully deserve all their successes.

"They are a credit to the work their families put in to support them and to all our coaches here at Colchester Phoenix.

"We are all so pleased with what they’ve achieved and can’t wait to see their medals.”

The Great Britain team finished second overall in the World Championships.