Swimmers – Para Swimming

What is Para Swimming?

Para swimming is Swimming Canada’s fully integrated swimming program for person’s with a disability from grassroots to elite.  Para swimming combines a broad range of impairments into three categories:

Physical Impairments

For example –

• Amputees/Dysmelia;
• Cerebral palsy/acquired brain injury;
• Spinal cord injury/polio; dwarfism
• Others (Major joint restrictions, coordination restriction, limb paralysis/weakness)

Visual Impairments

• Blind; visually impaired

Intellectual Impairments

• Typically leads to the athletes having difficulties with regards to pattern recognition, sequencing, and memory, or having a slower reaction time, which impact on sport performance in general.

History

Para swimming grew out of several different movements in the 1940’s and 1950’s. During this time, four international sports bodies, divided by means of medical disability eventually combined to form the modern day Paralympic movement. Swimming Canada became the first integrated National Sports Organization in 1993.

The world swimming governing body for persons with a disability is World Para Swimming. This comes under the International Paralympic Committee which operates with sport specific committees that oversee the development of sport for the disability groups. The word PARA refers to the fact that para swimmers swim “parallel” to able bodied swimmers. They compete on the same level.

What is the First Step to being a para swimmer on PEI?

Para swimmers need to have some basic swimming skills (same as able bodied swimmers) before becoming a competitive para swimmer. These lessons may be learned through a swimming lesson program. One designed specifically for swimmers with a disability is run through Parasport and Recreation PEI and is called Aqua-Abilities. Information on this is on their website.

Once a swimmer has enough basic swimming skills they can contact one of the competitive clubs on PEI to learn of training options for them. Para swimmers swim integrated with able-bodied swimmers.

A swimmer’s status as a para swimmer will be determined after they have started training with a team. It may involve an assessment by a physiotherapist to outline their specific impairment. As a swimmer progresses, their specific impairment will result in a level of classification being assigned to them. This is done so as to have a level playing field between many types of impairments.

For more information on para swimming you can contact Edie Rogers, Charlottetown Bluephins coach, at crowellrogers@eastlink.ca

Classification Information

Strokes

S = Freestyle, Backstroke, Butterfly
SB = Breaststroke SM = Individual Medley

Once a swimmer is classified their information will be available on Swimming Canada’s classification database so that meet managers and officials can confirm any rule exceptions for the swimmer.