Nathan Young from Wallasey started swimming when he was 10.
He was diagnosed with hearing loss at the age of four and began looking for a sport to help build his confidence. Now 23 he is the fourth fastest deaf swimmer in the world and took home a bronze in the Deaflympics.
Despite his success, Nathan has never received any funding from the government and has raised all the money for training, equipment and travel on his own. Without funding, Nathan says he might have to give up on his dream and the sport he loves.
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Nathan told the ECHO: "I have had a campaign going for over 600 days to ask the government for the same support Paralympians get. But so far they have not made any changes so I am back to raising funds myself again which I have done since I was 15.
"Every year I say this will be my last year but this year will be my biggest struggle because the world championships are coming up. It became hard for me to ask the same people over again and I don’t want to make them feel like they have to fundraise. I want to be self-sufficient."
The Deaflympics is the second longest-running multi-sporting event in the world, behind the Olympics and Nathan has trained his whole life to win gold. He says that he used to work as a lifeguard, but the job impacted his training and performance.
He said: "People say I could work alongside but there is no job that fits around my training. I was a lifeguard but I was spending 17 hours a day working and training which was not healthy. I decided to give it a hundred percent this year and see what happens.
"Olympians don’t work alongside their training. I want deaf athletes to be seen on par with everyone else."
Nathan said that with the world championships taking place in Argentina later this year, he needs to raise upwards of £10,000 to attend. For all his sacrifice dedication and hard work, Nathan said he would be "devastated" to give up on his dream.
He said: "Some countries treat deaf athletes like Paralympic athletes and that is what we are trying to change here. Swimming has changed my life and I would not change being deaf even if I could.
"In that moment when you are racing everything leads up to that one moment and obviously there is a lot of pressure but when you hit the water that all goes out of your mind. It leaves you.
"I think I will make it there but it will be a struggle and this is the difficult thing. People my age are making money and I am doing this for free and there is only so long I can do it without making a wage."
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