Swimming

Athletes Without Limits is looking for talented swimmers with intellectual disability to represent the US at upcoming national and international swim meets.

As the US member of INAS-FID, Athletes Without Limits offers opportunities for US swimmers to compete at the highest levels in their sport. International competitions are already being organized by INAS-FID and the IPC and are run according to FINA rules. Just like in Olympic competition, there are no separate categories by ability level—the top three times in each event win Gold, Silver and Bronze.

Qualified athletes may be able to travel to international competitions with the US delegation and there are new opportunities for Paralympic competition now that a class for intellectual disability has been added at the IPC World Championships and London 2012 Paralympics and other IPC Swimming events.

Athletes must meet the INAS-FID eligibility requirements and complete the eligibility application to be considered and there are often time standards for events. Please review eligibility guidelines and contact us if you know of any athletes who may be interested in competing in or aspiring to compete in national and international elite level competition. We look forward to meeting you!

Swimming Events

International: INAS-FID Swimming

The International Federation for Sport for Athletes with an Intellectual Disability (INAS-FID) offers world championship level swimming events for athletes with intellectual disability.
INAS-FID competitors are an elite group of athletes from around the world making great achievements in swimming. See the world records and rankings on the INAS-FID website to see just how fast world champion athletes with intellectual disability are. We are excited to have two US swimmers among those rankings from the July 2009 trip to Global Games. We look forward to seeing more US swimmers in those rankings in years to come!

Interested US athletes should work with Athletes Without Limits to complete the athlete eligibility process in order to compete in INAS-FID swimming events. Athletes Without Limits will organize trips to INAS-FID swim events based on athlete interest. Please contact us for more information.

Rules:
All INAS-FID swimming competitions are held according to INAS-FID Swimming Specifications and are officiated by the Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA). As with all INAS-FID competitions, only the top athletes in each event win; there are no separate divisions by ability level as in Special Olympic events.

    Paralympic Swimming

    Following the November 2009 vote to re-include athletes with intellectual disability into Paralympic competition, IPC Swimming is likely to be one of the inclusive sports. US swimmers with intellectual disability may have the opportunity to qualify to represent the US at the London 2012 Games or other IPC Swimming events such as World Championships. More information will be posted as it becomes available, however the IPC has stated that meeting INAS-FID eligibility criteria is the first step toward Paralympic classification.
    Note: The Paralympic swimming class for athletes with intellectual disability is “14.” The Prefix S to the class denotes the class for Freestyle, Backstroke and Butterfly (ex: S14); The Prefix SB to the class denotes the class for Breaststroke (e.g.” SB14); The Prefix SM to the class denotes the class for Individual Medley (e.g. SM14).

    National: Swimming Opportunities in the US

    Athletes Without Limits supports the identification and development of US swimmers with intellectual disability—please contact us if you are interested in learning more about swimming opportunities in the US.

    The US Swimming website provides a list of swimming clubs by area. For athletes aged 18 and over the US Masters Swimming website also provides a list of swimming clubs.

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