Swimming Opportunities
A. VIRTUS SWIMMING:
Athletes Without Limits provides swimmers with Intellectual Impairment, Autism and Down Syndrome the opportunity to compete at National and International swim meets, including AWL-hosted U.S. Meets, and AWL-USA National Teams competing at Virtus World Championships.
B. PARALYMPIC SWIMMING:
We also confirm eligibility for athletes pursuing Paralympic Swimming opportunities in the “S14/SB14” class for Intellectual Impairment at U.S. Paralympic managed-events or other events that follow Paralympic Classification.
The first step for interested athletes is to work with Athletes Without Limits to complete our National eligibility application to determine eligibility for AWL-Virtus and/or Paralympic competition.
A. ATHLETES WITHOUT LIMITS / VIRTUS SWIMMING
AWL HOSTED/SANCTIONED US EVENTS:
Stay tuned for information on upcoming AWL Swimming Events. Past AWL-Hosted or AWL-Sanctioned U.S. events include:
- 2020 AWL Sanctioned Short-Course Invitationals Hosted by Rockdale Riptides & Nautical Milers (Atlanta)
- 2018 AWL Swimming Nationals at the Rowdy Gaines Masters Classic (Orlando)
- 2017 AWL Swimming National Championships (Atlanta)
AWL NATIONAL TEAMS COMPETING AT VIRTUS EVENTS:
Virtus: World Intellectual Impairment Sport (formerly called Inas) competitors are an elite group of athletes from around the world making great achievements in swimming. See the records and rankings on the Virtus website to see just how fast world champion athletes with intellectual disability are. We are excited to see US swimmers among those rankings since the startup of Athletes Without Limits and look forward to more in years to come.
AWL’s US National Team at 2019 Brisbane Global Games
View our event calendar for upcoming Virtus Swimming events for which Athletes Without Limits will organize US Team Selection and travel including: Virtus World Championships and Global Games. Virtus offers competitions for athletes in three eligibility groups — II1-Intellectual Impairment, II2-Additional Disability/Down Syndrome and II3 Autism (w/IQ of 76 or higher) — and offers a full program of individual swim events, strokes and distances.
Upcoming Virtus Events:
- Nov 2021 Virtus Swimming World Championships (Brazil)
- 2022 Inaugural Virtus Americas Games (Brazil)
- 2023 Virtus Global Games (France)
Past Virtus Events (in which AWL-USA Teams have participated):
- Cancelled: 2020 Virtus Swimming World Championships (Hong Kong)
- 2019 INAS Global Games (Brisbane)
- 2017 Inas Swimming World Championships (Mexico)
- 2015 Inas Global Games Swimming World Championships (Ecuador)
- 2014 Guayaquil Para Swimming Open (Ecuador)
- 2011 Inas Global Games Swimming World Championships (Italy)
- 2009 Inas Global Games Swimming World Championships (Czech Republic)
AWL’s Leslie Cichocki is the first swimmer with intellectual impairment to qualify for the U.S. Paralympic Swim Team
B. PARALYMPIC SWIMMING
Swimming is one of three Paralympic sports that re-included athletes with intellectual impairment starting with the 2012 London Games. Events vary from developmental regional meets (such as the Fred Lamback Disability Meet in Georgia) to qualifying for U.S. Paralympic Trials and the Paralympic Games. Athletes Without Limits eligibility is the first step for U.S. athletes looking to compete in Paralympic events.
- To be eligible for Paralympics athletes must meet the Virtus II1 Criteria for Intellectual Disability (IQ 75 or lower, Significant Adaptive Limitations, Onset before 18)
- Visit our Paralympic Eligibility & Classification Page to learn more about who is eligible to participate in Paralympic-sanctioned and other events that use Paralympic classification for entry.
- Visit our Paralympic Games page to learn about AWL swimmers with intellectual impairment who have qualified for the Games.
The first step for interested athletes is to work with Athletes Without Limits to complete our eligibility application to determine eligibility for AWL-Virtus and/or Paralympic competition.
