Swimming: Then and now

Paralympic Swimming developed alongside the Paralympic movement and was one of the first sports to be included in the programme for the 1960 Games.

The sport has grown rapidly since then and the Paralympic Games now involve swimmers from more than 80 countries.

There are events for competitors with a physical disability or visual impairment, making Paralympic Swimming one of the biggest participation sports at the Games.

How to play – and win

At the Paralympic Games, swimmers compete in all four strokes - Freestyle, Backstroke, Butterfly and Breaststroke.

Races take place in a 50m long pool divided into 10 lanes, with only the middle eight lanes used by swimmers.

Swimmers are classified according to their functional ability to perform each stroke. Classifications S1-S10 are for athletes with a physical disability (S1 being the most physically disabled athletes and S10 the least) and classifications S11-S13 refer to blind athletes (S11) and those with visual impairments (S12 & S13).

Swimmers compete against athletes in their own classification and the fastest eight from the heats progress to the finals.

There are various ways for Paralympic swimmers to start their race: in the water, from a standing start, or a dive start sitting on the starting platform.

Blind swimmers and some with a visual impairment use an assistant to help them as they approach the end of the pool, either to make a turn or for the finish of the race. This process is called ‘tapping’, and is performed by a ‘tapper’.

Swimming at the Games

Swimming has been part of the Paralympic programme since the first Games in Rome 1960. More than 500 swimmers compete at modern Paralympic Games and at Sydney 2000 more than 200,000 spectators attended the swimming events over the nine days of competition.

Facts about Swimming

• In all, 568 Paralympic swimmers took part in the Sydney 2000 Games.
• Blind swimmers have to wear blackened goggles to ensure that competition is fair. Goggles are removed at the end of the race and checked by an official.

Get involved

Swimming is a sport that can be enjoyed by people of all ages and abilities.

Contact the Amateur Swimming Association to find out how to get started (see 'related website').