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Join our community of over 200+ para & disability athletes.
There is a grant available for those aged between 5 and 21 years, with physical or sensory impairments, through the Halberg Foundation’s Activity Fund. The Halberg Foundation is an organisation our Disability & Para Swimming Participation Manager works closely with to enable a transition and pathway from the learning to swim space into the regular swimming community.
Physical Impairments
S1 – S10, SB1 – SB9, SM1 – SM10
There are ten classifications for physical impairment, where the impact of the physical impairment is assessed using a points system to evaluate the impact upon their swimming. The assessment involves all functional body structures and a pool assessment.
The classifications are deemed the lower the number, the more severe the impairment upon the athlete’s swimming.
Vision Impairments
S11 – S13, SB11 – SB13, SM11 – SM13
S11 = athletes have a very low visual acuity and/or no light perception. All athletes must wear blackened goggles in competition and have a tapper.
S12 = athletes have a higher visual acuity than athletes competing in the S11 class and/or a visual field of less than 5 degrees radius. They may choose to use a tapper.
S13 = athletes have the least severe vision impairment eligible in Paralympic sport. They have the highest visual acuity and/or visual field of less than 20 degrees radius. They may choose to use a tapper.
Intellectual Impairments
S14, SB14, SM14, S18, S19
Swimmers have an intellectual impairment, which typically leads to the athletes having difficulties with regards to pattern recognition, sequencing, and memory, having a slower reaction time, which impact on sport performance in general.
The international pathway for S18 (known as II2) and S19 (known as II3) is the Virtus pathway, alongside S14 (known as II1).
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