One of the UK’s fastest deaf swimmers has spent more than 1,000 days campaigning against “discriminatory” policies that deny him funding.
Nathan Young, a holder of seven national records, is not entitled to any Government or National Lottery money to support his ambitions.
The reason is that UK Sport, the agency which allocates funding on behalf of those entities, is focused solely on Olympic and Paralympic sports.
As deafness on its own is not a discipline in the Paralympics, Wirral-based Young, 24, falls outside its criteria.
He is eligible to compete in the Deaflympics – the multi-sport event for deaf athletes sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee – but Great Britain does not financially back its entrants, unlike some other countries.
The only central funding available for solely deaf athletes is at grassroots level, with nothing for elite competitors such as Young.
That has left him needing to work and fundraise alongside his training to ensure he is able to meet the huge outlay needed to compete on the global stage.
For most of the last three years, he has also spent a large amount of his time running a campaign to get the parameters for funding changed, believing the current rules to be unfair.
“At the end of the day it’s discrimination,” said Young, whose campaign passed the 1,000-day mark in February.
“It’s completely isolating a whole disability. If I was a Paralympic swimmer, I would have been getting paid since I was 16 or 17. It could have been a career that I could have had.
“Right now, I train, I go to the gym but all the other things I should be getting as what you would class as an elite athlete, I don’t get any of it.
“Others have the best treatment available to them to keep them going mentally, physically and in every aspect. I should be getting physio, doing strength and conditioning but I get none of that.
“When I’m training right now, I’m thinking I should be working. It’s not what I should be thinking about.”
Young’s campaigning has involved giving numerous speeches and interviews as well as writing many letters and articles. He has also contacted MPs and, as part of a wider campaign with UK Deaf Sport, has even visited Parliament.
With UK Sport funding for recent Olympic/Paralympic cycles being around £300million, it is a source of frustration for Young that not even a relatively small amount can be found for Deaflympians.
“What we’re asking for is so little,” said Young, who might need to find around £3,000 to fund a trip to next year’s Deaflympics in Tokyo.
“UK Deaf Sport only asked for £4million for us (deaf athletes), which is so little when there’s £300-and-something million for Olympic and Paralympic sport.
“We’re getting the same responses. We keep pushing it and pushing it but it’s been over 1,000 days now and it’s been an exhausting journey.”
A UK Sport statement read: “UK Sport’s remit is specifically focused on investing in sports and athletes who are eligible to compete at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“The Deaflympics falls outside of Olympic and Paralympic sport. We are therefore unable to fund athletes targeting this event.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said: “This Government is dedicated to making sport in this country accessible and inclusive for everyone, including deaf people.
“Sport England has committed £1.2million between 2022 and 2027 to boost deaf sport at the grassroots level through widening participation and supporting the development pathway for talented athletes.”
Dylan Carter headlines T&T's team to World Short Course Championships
Trinidad and Tobago’s ace swimmer Dylan Carter headlines a three-member team that will represent the Twin Island Republic at the World Aquatics World Short Course (25m) Championships in Budapest, Hungary.
The six-day event, scheduled for December 10–15, promises exciting prospects for aquatics enthusiasts as it will feature morning heats and evening semi-finals and finals.
Carter will enter the championship in rich form following his fairly successful World Aquatics Swimming World Cup outing recently, where he pocketed two gold medals and one bronze during the three-leg competition.
The decorated 28-year-old, who is a many-time World Short Course medallist and Olympian, is scheduled to swim the men’s 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, and 50m butterfly.
He will be joined by rising sensation Nikoli Blackman, who is currently in his sophomore year at the University of Tennessee. Blackman, a talented and versatile swimmer, will only contest the men’s 200m freestyle event.
Meanwhile, Zuri Ferguson, who paraded her skills at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, is the lone female member of the team. The University of Florida freshman will be targeting at least best times in the women’s 50m, 100m, and 200m backstroke events.
Another female swimmer, Ornella Walker, who recently shattered Trinidad and Tobago’s 50m and 100m backstroke records, also qualified to make the team but opted not to take up her spot on this occasion.
T&T's Dylan Carter cops gold in men's 50m freestyle at Swimming World Cup
Trinidad and Tobago’s ace swimmer Dylan Carter secured his second gold of the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup Series as he produced a breathtaking performance to land win the men’s 50-metre freestyle in Singapore on Thursday.
Carter, a three-time Olympian, won the event in a brisk 20.82 seconds and left the field in his wake as he was the only swimmer under the 21-second barrier in the final. He won ahead of Australia’s Isaac Cooper (21.01s) and Germany’s Marius Kusch (21.04s).
The 28-year-old Carter is expected to line up in the heats of the men’s 50m backstroke and 100m freestyle on Thursday’s evening session before bringing the curtains down on his campaign in the men’s 50m butterfly on Friday.
Samuda empathizes with Comm Games Federation over scaled-down 2026 event; urges possible compensation for excluded sports
Jamaica Olympic Association (JOA) president, Christopher Samuda, has expressed understanding and empathy toward the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) as they face the challenge of hosting a scaled-down version of the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland.
With the event, traditionally a grand celebration of sport, culture, and unity, being reduced in size due to economic pressures, Samuda acknowledges the difficulties facing the CGF while also stressing the need to find ways to address the impact this decision will have on several sports that have been cut from the programme.
Diving, rugby, squash, badminton, table tennis, hockey, triathlon, and cricket are among the sports that will not feature in the 2026 edition.
The CGF initially struggled to find a host after the Australian state of Victoria withdrew last year, before Glasgow, known for its rich sporting history as a host city—including hosting the 2014 edition of the game—stepped in to save the 2026 Games. However, this comes with the reality of hosting a more compact edition than previous iterations.
For Samuda, the situation is an unfortunate but understandable outcome in a global landscape.
“The circumstances in which the Commonwealth Games Federation unavoidably found itself inevitably led to a scaled-down edition of the games. I regret the exclusion of badminton, table tennis, squash, and hockey; for those sports, the Jamaica Olympic Association has earmarked for real transitioning. The CGF’s decision was clearly influenced by commercial factors and the economy of a diminished sporting agenda, for at the end of the day, the games must be viable to ensure sustainability,” Samuda said.
However, Samuda also noted that the decision to reduce the scope of the Games, which will see several sports omitted from the 2026 programme, raises important questions about the future of those disciplines within the Commonwealth sporting family.
He argued that the CGF must find ways to compensate the sports that have been excluded, as they are integral to the diversity and spirit of the Commonwealth Games.
“Going forward, however, the CGF has to develop a strategy that will compensate those sports that are being excluded so as not to lose the interest and confidence of their international federations, commercial partners, and most importantly, the players and athletes for whom sports exist,” he reasoned.
Despite the current challenges, Samuda remains optimistic about the future of the Commonwealth Games and the role it plays in uniting nations through sport. He sees the 2026 edition in Glasgow as an opportunity to innovate and adapt, ensuring that the Games remain relevant in a changing world.
The Games will feature a 10-sport programme across four venues within an eight-mile corridor, with more than 500,000 tickets made available for spectators.
Athletics and swimming are included as compulsory sports for 2026, while there will also be track cycling, gymnastics, netball, weightlifting, boxing, judo, bowls, and 3x3 basketball.
“It is critical that the next games, while being an economic reinvention, should retain that unique traditional value that has given many sports and invaluable space on the Commonwealth sporting agenda and which have made it competitive as a sporting and commercial product amidst growing competition for the partnership dollar and public viewership and appeal,” Samuda said.
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