IPC Swimming Media Guide 2016 IPC Swimming Media Guide 1 Table of contents 4 President’s welcome 6 Media and broadcast contacts 6 About the sport 8 Classification 9 History 10 Classification explained 10 Sport classes 14 Ones to watch 74 Vital statistics 76 Participation 78 Medals tables 82 Paralympic records 98 Reigning world champions 106 Reigning Paralympic champions 116 Rio 2016 Press Attaches 124 Officials 125 Anti-doping 2 IPC Swimming Media Guide IPC Swimming Media Guide 3 President’s welcome In the intervening years between London 2012 and Rio 2016 athletes have stepped up their training, become even more pro- fessionalised and have increasing access to some of the best sport facilities in the world. As a result, times are tumbling and a series of new faces have also emerged to challenge for titles. This, combined with the great work hap- pening across the world to develop Para sport from the grass roots to the high per- formance level, will result in what I believe will be the most competitive Paralympic Games to date. Dear media representative, We will also enjoy more broadcast cov- erage than ever before, allowing us to Welcome to the first edition of the IPC spread the word about Para sport to new Swimming Media Guide, a new resource audiences. containing everything you need to know about Para swimming in this most The eyes of the world will be upon us and I important of years. do not believe anybody will be disappoint- ed by what they see. We are just a few days away from the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, a first for Latin I hope that this Media Guide helps you to America, and I believe these Paralympics get to know Para swimming and provides will be the best ever in terms of athlete you with everything you need to cover the performance. competition from the Olympic Aquatics Stadium in Rio. In the last year we have seen a combined 66 world records broken across both the Thank you for your support, World and European Championships in 2015 and 2016 respectively. This not only shows that swimmers are getting ready to put in their best perfor- mances at Rio 2016, but that the stand- Sir Philip Craven MBE ard of competition is rising all the time. IPC President 4 IPC Swimming Media Guide IPC Swimming Media Guide 5 Media and broadcast contacts Lucy Dominy IPC Sports Public Relations and Campaigns Manager Telephone: +49 228 2097-159 Email: [email protected] Eva Werthmann IPC Media Operations Manager Telephone: +49 228 2097-143 Email: [email protected] Sascha Beck Events are conducted as heats for eight S/SB12 and S/SB13 can choose if they IPC Broadcast Manager competitors per class, with the fastest use a tapper. Telephone: +49 228 2097-104 eight swimmers per class competing in Email: [email protected] the finals. Uniquely, athletes in classes S4 and S3 compete in the 150m individual medley, Athletes can start the race in a variety of which omits the butterfly stroke. positions: in the water, a dive start sitting World and regional records on the starting platform or the typical Observers will also notice that athletes The most up to date world and regional records can be found at standing start. without arms touch the wall with their www.paralympic.org/swimming/records. head to finish a race, or start by holding No prosthesis or assistive devices are onto a towel with their teeth attached to allowed in the competition pool and ath- the starting platform. letes are not allowed to use anything that may aid their speed, endurance or buoy- ancy. Goggles and swimming caps are What about the relays? permitted. There are five relay events on the About the sport Paralympic programme: the men’s and Visually impaired athletes can employ the women’s 4x100m freestyle 34 points and As one of the original Paralympic sports, Men’s and women’s team relays are also use of a ‘tapper’. A tapper is a long stick 4x100m medley relay 34 points, and the swimming has grown into one of the most contested in 4x100m freestyle and med- with a tennis ball or similar on the end, mixed 4x50m freestyle 20 points. challenging, exciting and popular sports ley, as well as the mixed 4x50m freestyle. which is used by a coach or team official on the Paralympic programme. to touch the athlete when they are ap- The points element is based on the How does Para swimming compare proaching the wall. Spectators will notice composition of each team, allowing a It provides competition for athletes to able-bodied competition? that different swimmers are ‘tapped’ in combination of different impairment with physical, visual and intellectual different places – some on the back and groups. The sport class of an individual impairments in 152 medal events. Paralympic swimming uses the rules of some on the head, for example. swimmer is worth the actual number the International Swimming Federation value. For example, sport class S6 is worth (FINA) with a few modifications. This helps the swimmer to judge when to six points, sport class SB12 is worth 12 Athletes compete for medals in freestyle, turn or execute their finish. points, etc. breaststroke, medley, backstroke and The competition pool is always 50m butterfly in distances ranging from the in length and, at Paralympic Games, Visually impaired athletes in classes Each team’s points total must not exceed 50m sprint to the endurance test of the the same pool is used as the Olympic S/SB11 must use a tapper and must com- the limit for the event, and the teams can 400m. Games. pete with blackened goggles. Those in choose which athletes swim each leg. 6 IPC Swimming Media Guide IPC Swimming Media Guide 7 Classification History The sport class names in swimming con- Follow us: Swimming is one of the original Paralym- Swimming continued to be a popular part sist of a prefix “S” or “SB” and a number. pic sports and has grown into the sec- of the programme throughout the 1990s The prefixes stand for the strokes and the @IPCSwimming ond-most popular in terms of TV viewers. and into the 2000s, where further ration- number indicates the sport classes. The alisation of classification and events took prefixes stand for: IPCSwimming Like many of its counterparts it developed place. from rehabilitation into a high perfor- • S: freestyle, butterfly and backstroke ParaSwimming mance sport practiced around the globe Competitions for intellectually impaired events by athletes with a physical, visual or intel- athletes were included at Atlanta 1996 • SB: breaststroke www.ipc-swimming.org lectual impairment. for the first time. However, they were • SM: individual medley. The prefix removed after Sydney 2000 due to an “SM” is given to athletes competing At the first Paralympic Games in Rome in investigation into the Spanish basketball in individual medley events. It is not a 1960, swimmers with spinal cord injuries team caused the suspension of all intel- sports class, but an entry index that is competed in five classes in just two dis- lectually impaired athletes until London calculated from the combination be- tances – 25m and 50m – in backstroke, 2012. tween the S and SB sport classes. breaststroke and ‘crawl’. The sport has produced many big-name There are 10 different sport classes for An open mixed-medal relay was intro- stars over the years. In addition to Zorn, athletes with physical impairment, num- duced in Tokyo, Japan, in 1964 and more swimmers such as Great Britain’s Eleanor bered 1-10. A lower number indicates events were also added to the Games in Simmonds and Brazil’s Daniel Dias have a more severe activity limitation than a Tel Aviv in 1968, including the 100m free- become household names because of higher number. style and an additional three relays. their exceptional performances. Due to the different demands of S and SB Butterfly was contested for the first time Times have also tumbled. For example, events, swimmers with physical impair- at the Toronto 1976 Paralympic Games, the world record in the men’s 50m free- ments are often allocated different S and where competitions for visually impaired style S12 has reduced by 1.81 seconds SB sport classes. swimmers were also included. since 2004. The world’s fastest Paralym- pian, Ukraine’s Maksym Veraksa, holds Visually impaired athletes compete in The Arnhem 1980 edition featured the the current best in this event of 22.99 classes 11-13 and intellectually impaired debut of the USA’s Trischa Zorn, who seconds. swimmers in class 14. won seven golds in women’s visually im- paired events and would go on to become At the last Paralympic Games at London Dedicated information on classification is the most decorated Paralympian in the 2012 604 swimmers from 74 countries available on page 10. sport’s history. competed in 148 medal events. There was also a shift in classification At Rio 2016, 620 athletes from around in para-sport generally, from a medical- 70 countries will compete for 152 gold based system to a functional approach. In medals. a functional system the focus is on what impact the athlete's impairment has on his or her athletic performance. 8 IPC Swimming Media Guide IPC Swimming Media Guide 9 Classification Sport classes explained The sport class names in swimming The following are general examples of S6 SB5: This sport class includes swim- In IPC Swimming, athletes are grouped consist of a prefix “S” or “SB” followed impairments and resulting functional mers with short stature or amputations by the degree of activity limitation by a number.