Jack Thomas (born 30 May 1995) is a British parasport

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

. Thomas competes in the S14 classification for swimmers with intellectual disabilities, mainly freestyle and backstroke, preferring shorter distances. In 2014 he competed at the

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

in Glasgow representing Wales and took the bronze medal in the 200m freestyle S14.

Personal history

Thomas was born in

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Swansea ( cy, links=no, Dinas a Sir Abertawe). The city is the twenty-fifth largest in ...

, Wales in 1995 to Mark and Wendy Thomas. When Jack was two years old he was diagnosed as having learning difficulties. He was educated at Morriston Comprehensive.

Career history

Thomas first began swimming at the age of four, when his parents took him to the local pool in an attempt to help him burn off excess energy. As he matured, he showed promise as a competitive swimmer and won several junior competitions but the decision made by the IPC, after a controversy at the 2000 Summer Paralympics, meant a competitive ban on all events for athletes with an intellectual disability. This saw him unable to compete at meets for disabled swimmers. His parents petitioned the

Equality and Human Rights Commission The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is a non-departmental public body in Great Britain, established by the Equality Act 2006 with effect from 1 October 2007. The Commission has responsibility for the promotion and enforcement of eq ...

, the director of which stated in 2008 that the Thomas' letter was a major factor in seeing the Youth Sports Trust lift the ban for children competing in Britain. In 2013 Thomas was selected to compete at his first major tournament for Great Britain. He came fifth in the 100m backstroke S14 and sixth in the 200m individual medley SM14. The next year he was selected to represent

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

in Scotland. There he competed in the 200m freestyle S14, the first event for swimmers with a learning disability. In the finals Thomas took bronze with a time of 2:01.27, behind Australia's Daniel Fox and England's Thomas Hamer. A month later he was back in the Great Britain team, this time travelling to Eindhoven to take part in the

2014 IPC Swimming European Championships The 2014 IPC Swimming European Championships was an international swimming competition held in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, from the 4th to the 10th of August. Around 375 athletes from 35 different countries attended. The venue, the Pieter van d ...

. In Eindhoven Thomas was entered into three events the 100m backstroke, 200m freestyle S14 and the 200m individual medley SM14. He won bronze in the 50m backstroke and silver in the medley and freestyle. A wrist injury ruled Thomas out of the 2015 World Championships in Glasgow.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Jack Living people 1995 births Sportspeople from Swansea Welsh male freestyle swimmers British male backstroke swimmers Swimmers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for Wales Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Medalists at the World Para Swimming European Championships S14-classified para swimmers Medallists at the 2014 Commonwealth Games