Josef Craig

Background

Craig was born in Hebburn, Tyne and Wear on 17 February 1997.

Career

Craig competes in S8 events and qualified for the 2012 Summer Paralympics, winning the gold in a world record time in the men"s 400 m freestyle event. Craig, who has cerebral palsy, was introduced to disability swimming at the age of nine, before entering competitive swimming a few years later. Noted as a swimming talent from a young age, and ear-marked for the Great Britain team at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Craig"s career suffered a setback when he was diagnosed with Graves" disease in 2011.

The condition, which affects the thyroid gland, caused severe weight loss in Craig, but after having his thyroid removed he quickly returned to swimming.

He is a supporter of Newcastle United Football Club.

Craig trains at the City of Sunderland Amateur Swimming Club. Later that year, at the British International Disability Championships, he improved again on his personal best to take the youth 100 m freestyle title.

In the same tournament, Craig took the gold in the men"s youth 50 m, with a time of 29.95s, and the bronze in the men"s open 400 m challenge. As a result of his success he was jointly awarded the North East Sports Personality of the Year award, along with Olympian rower Kat Copeland in December 2012.

Then, on 16 December, Craig was made Young Sports Personality of the year for 2012 at the British Broadcasting Corporation"s main annual award.

Initially classified as a S7 swimmer, Craig was reclassified in April 2014 as S8.

Achievements

• In 2012 he set five personal bests at the Paralympic trials for the 2012 Games in London and then won his first British medal with a bronze in the 100 m freestyle at the 2012 British Swimming Championships. In the finals that afternoon he recorded a time of 4:42.81 to beat his own world record set earlier that day, and saw him finish first to collect the gold. His first Paralympic medal, making him Great Britain"s youngest 2012 gold medal winner. To commemorate his gold medal Royal Mail painted a post box gold in his hometown of Jarrow, Tyne and Wear, and produced a first class stamp featuring a picture of him. His previous achievements continued to stand, but it meant that Craig would now compete in future events with swimmers deemed to have more mobility. His first major tournament after being reclassified was the 2014 IPC Swimming European Championships, where he claimed three bronze medals, an achievement that Craig was pleased with.

Membership

Craig was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (Administration Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to swimming.