Hawke's Bay swimmers have returned with a swag of medals and personl best times at the end of the Special Olympics Transtasman Tournament in Hamilton.
The 17-member Bay contingent, including six coaches and supervisors, returned hom last weekend with 11 gold, 14 silver and 11 bronze medals at the third games.
The swimmers, who were competing against 420 fellow athletes of all ages with intellectual disabilities from throughout New Zealand and Australia, also recorded 10 fourth placings, six fifths, seven sixths and eight highly commended achievements amid personl best times.
The tourney has been created to give athletes more opportunity to compete, particularly those with higher needs that may not otherwise have the opportunity to compete internationally.
Day one started at Waterworld with an opening ceremony that included a powhiri from Waikato Ngati Maahanga, official welcome of VIPs, athletes, team management and families.