Disability Swimming

Swimming has been a Paralympic Games event since the first games were held in Rome in 1960. The UK has a great medal record and has athletes competing in freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke, individual medley and relay events.

Many of the rules for disability swimming are the same as those for able-bodied competitions. However, small changes can be made depending on disability. The race starting position may change, for example, and other adaptations are allowed.

For visually impaired swimmers this means the use of ‘tappers’. These are people who stand at the end of the pool and use a pole to tap the swimmers when they approach a pool end, indicating when the swimmer should turn around or finish the race.

Changes like this are part of ensuring a level playing field in disability swimming, a key aspect of the sport.

Classification

Classification is the grouping of athletes in a sport to ensure that there is a fair playing field, and there are two main forms of classification: the functional classification system and the disability specific classification system.

i) Functional Classification system
Co-ordinated by British Swimming, this system is for swimmers with a physical impairment and entails the assessment of a swimmer's functional mobility by IPC Swimming trained classifiers. The process involves a bench test, water test and observation in competition.

A minimum of two classifiers form a classification team consisting of a medical classifier, such as a doctor or physiotherapist, and a technical classifier, such as a swimming coach.

In the first instance swimmers will need to obtain a British Swimming classification and then as they progress along the elite pathway will be put forward for an international classification.

ii) Disability Specific Classification system
This system is co-ordinated by the relevant Disability Sports Organisations and allows swimmers of a similar and specific disability to compete against one another. There are individual classification systems for visually impaired, hearing impaired and learning impaired swimmers.

Stephanie competes in the S9 classification. This category falls in the S1-S10 bracket which includes swimmers with a functional disability. To read more on the classification guidelines click here