Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics - women Freestyle swimming

Para swimming is an adaptation of the sport of swimming for athletes with

disabilities Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...

. Para swimmers compete at the

Summer Paralympic Games The Summer Paralympics also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, are an international multi-sport event where athletes with physical disabilities compete. This includes athletes with mobility disabilities, amputations, blindness, and cerebral ...

and at other sports competitions throughout the world. The sport is governed by the

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; german: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and fun ...

. Both men and women compete in para swimming, racing against competitors of their own gender. Swimming has been a part of the Paralympic program since the

1960 Summer Olympics The 1960 Summer Olympics ( it, Giochi Olimpici estivi del 1960), officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad ( it, Giochi della XVII Olimpiade) and commonly known as Rome 1960 ( it, Roma 1960), were an international multi-sport event held ...

in Rome, Italy.

Rules

Rules for the sport are adapted from those set forth by the

International Swimming Federation FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...

(FINA). Swimmers compete individually in backstroke,

breaststroke Breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on their chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to the swimmer's head being out of the water a large portion of the time, and that it can be s ...

, butterfly,

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...

, individual medley, and as teams in relay races. At the Paralympics, World Championships and other elite level competitions, swimmers compete in an Olympic-size swimming pool. Indoor Swimming Pool with Diving Platform and Springboards

Indoor Swimming Pool with Diving Platform and Springboards

Significant differences between able-bodied and para swimming include the starting position and adaptations allowed for visually impaired swimmers. Competitors may start a race by standing on a platform and diving into the pool, as in non-disabled swimming, or by sitting on the platform and diving in, or they may start the race in the water. In events for the blind and visually impaired, people called "tappers" may stand at the end of the pool and use a pole to tap the swimmers when they approach the wall, indicating when the swimmer should turn or end the race. No prostheses or assistive devices may be worn during competition.

Classification

86 ACPS Atlanta 1996 Swimming General Views

Swimmers are classified according to the type and extent of their disability. The classification system allows swimmers to compete against others with a similar level of function. Swimmers with physical disabilities are allocated a category between 1 and 10, with 1 corresponding to the most severe types of disability. Physical disabilities of para swimmers include single or multiple limb loss (through birth defects and/or

amputation Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indi ...

), cerebral palsy,

spinal cord injuries A spinal cord injury (SCI) is damage to the spinal cord that causes temporary or permanent changes in its function. Symptoms may include loss of muscle function, sensation, or autonomic function in the parts of the body served by the spinal cor ...

(leading to paralysis or disability in limb coordination),

dwarfism Dwarfism is a condition wherein an organism is exceptionally small, and mostly occurs in the animal kingdom. In humans, it is sometimes defined as an adult height of less than , regardless of sex; the average adult height among people with dw ...

, and disabilities which impair the use of joints. Blind and visually impaired swimmers compete within separate categories, being allocated to categories 11, 12 or 13. Category 11 corresponds to totally blind swimmers, while competitors in category 12 have severe but not total visual impairment. Category 11 swimmers compete with blackened goggles to ensure competitors are on an even level. Category 11 swimmers are also required to use tappers but they are optional for categories 12 and 13. Swimmers with mental disabilities compete in category 14, while deaf and hearing impaired swimmers compete in category 15. Numbers are combined with a letter prefix depending on the event type. An "S" prefix corresponds to

, backstroke and butterfly, while "SB" corresponds to

and "SM" to the

medley Medley or Medleys may refer to: Sports *Medley swimming, races requiring multiple swimming styles * Medley relay races at track meets Music *Medley (music), multiple pieces strung together People *Medley (surname), list of people with this nam ...

. Hence, a swimmer with severe physical disabilities competing in backstroke may compete in an S3 event, while a blind swimmer in the medley would compete in class SM11. For relay races, athletes from different classifications compete together, but the sum of their individual classifications must not exceed a given points total. For example, a relay team for a 34 points freestyle relay may consist of two S8 swimmers and two S9 swimmers (9 + 9 + 8 + 8 = 34), or an S10 swimmer and three S8 swimmers (10 + 8 + 8 + 8 = 34)

Events

Swimming at the Summer Paralympics Swimming has been contested at every Summer Paralympics. At the first games, the 1960 Paralympics, 62 swimming events were held in distances of 25 and 50 metres, plus a 3×50 metre relay for men. Since then, swimming at the Paralympics has gro ...

World Para Swimming Championships The World Para Swimming Championships, known before 30 November 2016 as the IPC Swimming World Championships, are the world championships for swimming where athletes with a disability compete. They are organised by the International Paralympic C ...

World Para Swimming European Championships The World Para Swimming European Championships (World Para Swimming European Open Championships), known until 2018 as the IPC Swimming European Championships, are the European continental championships for swimming Swimming is the self-propul ...

Para Swimming World Series Para, or PARA, may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Paramount Global, traded as PARA on the Nasdaq stock exchange * Para Group, the former name of CT Corp * Para Rubber, now Skellerup, a New Zealand manufacturer * Para USA, formerly ...

- Since 2017.

Para Swimming World Series

Source:

2017

Source: 2017 World Para Swimming World Series City, country Name Date #Copenhagen, Denmark Copenhagen 2017 World Para Swimming World Series 11-12 March #São Paulo, Brazil São Paulo 2017 World Para Swimming World Series - Loterias Caixa Swimming Open Championships 21-23 April #Sheffield, Great Britain Sheffield 2017 World Para Swimming World Series - British Para Swimming International Meet 27-30 April #Indianapolis, USA Indianapolis 2017 World Para Swimming World Series 9-11 June #Berlin, Germany Berlin 2017 World Para Swimming World Series - Internationale Deutsche Meisterschaften Swimming Berlin 6-9 July

2018

Source: 2018 World Para Swimming World Series City, country Name Date #Copenhagen, Denmark 2018 World Para Swimming World Series 2-4 March #Indianapolis, USA 2018 World Para Swimming World Series 19-21 April #São Paulo, Brazil 2018 World Para Swimming World Series Loterias Caixa Swimming Open Championships 26-28 April #Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy 2018 World Para Swimming World Series 24-27 May #Sheffield, Great Britain 2018 World Para Swimming World Series British Para Swimming International Meet 31 May-3 June #Berlin, Germany 2018 World Para Swimming World Series Internationale Deutsche Meisterschaften Swimming Berlin 7-10 June

2019

Source: 2019 World Para Swimming World Series City, country Name Date #Melbourne, Australia – 15-17 February 2019 #Indianapolis, USA – 4-6 April 2019 #São Paulo, Brazil – 26-28 April 2019 #Glasgow, Great Britain – 25-28 April 2019 #Singapore – 10-12 May 2019 #Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy – 30 May-2 June 2019 #Berlin, Germany – 6-9 June 2019

2020

Source: 2020 World Para Swimming World Series City, country Name Date #Melbourne, Australia 14-16 February 2020 #Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy 27 February -1 March 2020 (CANCELLED) #São Paulo, Brazil 25 -28 March 2020 (CANCELLED) #Sheffield, Great Britain 9-12 April 2020 (CANCELLED) #Indianapolis, USA 16-18 April 2020 (CANCELLED) #Singapore, 1-3 May 2020 (CANCELLED) #Berlin, Germany 2020 15-18 October 2020 (new dates)

2021

Source: 2021 World Para Swimming World Series City, country Name Date #Sheffield 2021 World Series, Great Britain; 8 – 11 April #Lewisville 2021 World Series, USA; 15 - 17 April #Lignano Sabbiadoro 2021 World Series, Italy; 17 - 18 April #Berlin 2021 World Series, Germany; 17 – 20 June

2022

Source: 2022 World Para Swimming World Series City, country Name Date #Para Swimming World Series Great Britain 17–20 February Aberdeen #Para Swimming World Series Australia 18-20 February Melbourne #Para Swimming World Series Italy 11-13 March Lignano Sabbiadoro #Para Swimming World Series Germany 31 March-3 April Berlin #Para Swimming World Series USA 7-9 April Indianapolis

Notable para swimmers

Daniel Dias Daniel de Faria Dias (born 24 May 1988) is a Brazilian Paralympic swimmer. Having learnt to swim in 2004 after being inspired by Clodoaldo Silva at the 2004 Summer Paralympics, he entered his first international competition two years later winni ...

Jessica Long Jessica Tatiana Long (born February 29, 1992) is a Russian-American Paralympic swimmer from Baltimore, Maryland, who competes in the S8, SB7 and SM8 category events. She has held many world records and competed at five Paralympic Games, winnin ...

Ellie Simmonds Eleanor May Simmonds, OBE (born 11 November 1994) is a British former Paralympian swimmer who competed in S6 events. She came to national attention when she competed in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, winning two gold medals for Gre ...

Trischa Zorn Trischa Zorn (born June 1, 1964 in Orange, California) is an American Paralympic swimmer. Blind from birth, she competed in Paralympic swimming (S12, SB12, and SM12 disability categories). She is the most successful athlete in the history of th ...

* Brad Snyder * Zheng Tao

References

External links

World Para Swimming
{{Racing Swimming Swimming