COLCHESTER Phoenix trio Mark Holmes, Holly Bocking and Helen Thompson returned with medals and certificates after excelling at the Down Syndrome European Championships, in Paris.

Holmes came away with three gold medals in the 4x200 metres freestyle relay, 4x50m freestyle relay and 4x100m medley relay.

The 200m relay was a thrilling race, with the GB team half a length behind Portugal after the first three legs.

However, Holmes' team-mate, Stephen Boyce, dived in for the final leg and swam the race of his life to snatch the gold by half a second.

Holmes, 34, also won three silver medals in the 4x50m medley, 4x100m freestyle and the 400m individual medley, where he smashed his own European Masters record by an incredible 17 seconds.

He also won a bronze medal in the 50m backstroke and, altogether, swam in seven individual finals, achieved five personal bests.

For Bocking, 16, and Thompson, 14, it was the first time they had been selected to represent the DSS GB team.

Both were nervous at the the start of the week.

However, they quickly settled and gave performances that surpassed expectations.

Bocking achieved six personal best times in the championships and swam so well that she qualified for three individual finals, where she further improved her times.

She swam in the 50m and 100m backstroke finals and the 200m breaststroke final - an incredible achievement for a junior swimmer and the only junior in these finals.

Her performances enabled her to be selected by Team GB to swim the breaststroke leg in the 4x100m medley relay, where she helped secure a bronze medal and a place on the podium.

Thompson is one of the youngest in the squad but also did her team proud with five personal best swims once she conquered her first-day nerves.

She was disappointed by narrowly missing a place in the 200m breaststroke final, with team-mate Bocking pipping her to eighth place by a little over a second.

However, the next day she swam a thrilling 100m individual medley heat to get the seventh spot in the final - the only junior swimmer to qualify.

These fantastic performances, along with those from all 31 Team GB swimmers, contributed to Britain being crowned overall European champions.