Gifted and talented Oldbury swimmer Karnell Nunes-Smith, is making a bigger splash, in the pool, on national media and in the art world.
Ranked #1 in his age group in England, Karnell is a national swimmer with the Orion Swimming Club, based in Edgbaston, Birmingham, and an athlete at the UK’s premier athletics club, Birchfield Harriers at Perry Barr, Birmingham.
His 2022 got off to a record-breaking start, when he achieved the fastest swim of all time by a 17-year-old from the West Midlands at February’s Warwickshire County Swimming Championships 2022, attaining a time of 28.94 seconds in the 50m breaststroke.
For comparison, the World Record for the 50m breaststroke is 25.95 and held by swimming legend Adam Peaty.
His success continued at July’s Speedo British Summer Championships 2022 in Sheffield, when he won a bronze medal in the 50m breaststroke race.
Karnell is also one of three professional swimmers featured in the Black Swimming Association’s ‘My Race’ campaign which highlights their swim journeys and experiences, the lack of diversity in elite swimming, and aims to inspire young swimmers.
Karnell appeared on Sky News Breakfast earlier this month, discussing the lack of diversity in swimming, and was interviewed on BBC Sport about his experiences.
Karnell is one of four performers featured in the public art installation Fluitō at Sandwell Valley Country Park. The event showcases the agility of elite swimmers, the positive mental impact of the sport, water inequality within Commonwealth countries and ocean pollution.
Sandwell Council’s ‘Gifted and Talented’ programme supports sportsmen and women, like Karnell, who are permanent residents in Sandwell with the potential to excel at a regional, national and international level within their chosen sport.
