Swimming has been an event at the Paralympic Games since the event was first held in Rome in 1960. The British Para-Swimming team has had great medal success at the Paralympic Games over that time and in other major international events with a number of swimmers coming from clubs in the North East.
What is Para-Swimming?
Para-swimming is Swim England’s fully integrated swimming program for person’s with a disability from grassroots to elite. Para-swimming combines a broad range of disabilities into three categories:
Physical Impairments
- Amputees/Dysmelia;
- Cerebral palsy/acquired brain injury;
- Spinal cord injury/polio; dwarfism
- Others (Major joint restrictions, coordination restriction, limb paralysis/weakness)
Visual Impairments
- Blind: visually impaired
Intellectual Impairments
- Typically leads to the athletes having difficulties with regards to pattern recognition, sequencing and memory or having a slower reaction time, which impact on sport performance in general.
History
Para swimming grew out of several different movements in the 1940’s and 1950’s. During this time, four international sports bodies, divided by means of medical disability eventually combined to form the modern day Paralympic movement. Swimming Canada was the first integrated National Sports Organization in 1993.
Today, a “sport-first” approach is being taken and international groups have moved towards representing specific sports, with consideration of a person’s disability as a secondary factor. The world sport governing body for persons with a disability, including swimming, is World Para Swimming, under International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and it operates with sport specific committees that oversee the development of sport for the disability groups.
Para-swimming is basically pool swimming for swimmers with a range of impairments, including physical, visual, intellectual and hearing impairments.
Getting started in para-swimming in England
There are five key steps on the pathway to becoming a para-swimmer. Many of England’s top Paralympic swimmers will have taken these steps on their journey to the top of the sport.
- Get in touch and let us help with specific advice for you.
- Sign up for an assessment with Swim England qualified coaches at a Start Para-Swimming Centre.
- Find a club to train and compete with like-minded swimmers and para-swimmers.
- Apply for classification to compete in regional, national and international competitions.
- Set yourself goals and work hard with your coach to reach them.
Discover the essentials of competitive swimming and para-swimming. From training terms like drills and sets to understanding classifications and multi-class racing, this video is your go-to guide for getting started, created by Swim England:
Start Para-Swimming
Our Start Para-Swimming centres will provide support and advice from Swim England qualified coaches. Here are our current North East Region – Start Para-Swimming Centres:
| Club | Venue | Day/time | Contact |
| Richmond Dales SC | Catterick Leisure Centre, 1 Gough Rd, Catterick Garrison DL9 3EL | Saturday 1:30 to 3:30pm | Keith and Zoe: Admin@rdasc.org.uk |
| City of Sheffield SC | Ponds Forge, Sheaf St, Sheffield City Centre, Sheffield S1 2BP | Monday 7:30-8:30pm | Allison: alycat.racing@hotmail.co.uk |
| North East Disability Swimming Club | Freemans Quay Leisure Centre Durham, Freeman’s Pl, Durham DH1 1SW | Monthly on weekends 1pm-2pm | Jo Barber: NEDSwimClub@gmail.com |
| Borocuda SC | The Unicorn Pool, 11 Cannon Park Way, Middlesbrough, TS1 5JU | Tuesdays 5:45 to 6:15pm | Dan Firbank: info@borocuda.com |
Get in Touch
Not sure what level of para-swimmer you are, or even if you qualify as a para-swimmer? Let us help you!
Whether you’re a recreational swimmer, a complete newcomer to the sport (or to the pool!), or already at a club, our ID Tracker form (on Swim England’s main website) can help you. Head over to the form now and fill it in, and Swim England will be back in touch with specific advice to help you take the next step forward.
Find A Club
Club coaches will give you specific advice and coaching to improve your swimming. There are also huge benefits to training with like-minded swimmers and being part of a team. Click on the links below to find out about the Disability Organisations and North East Para-Swimming Clubs. If you would like your club to appear in this list, please let us know.
- Special Olympics Sunderland
- North East Disability Swimming Club
- English Federation of Disability Sport
- British Blind Sport (BBS)
- Cerebral Palsy Sport (CP Sport)
- Paralympics GB
- Sunderland Gateway
- UK DeafSport (UKDS
- Richmond Dales ASC
Swimmers with disabilities are encouraged to join nearly all mainstream clubs – you can head to the Swim England Find A Club page to find out more.
Get Classified
You’ll need to be classified to swim in any competitions in England as a para-swimmer. Your times will be compared to other swimmers in your class, or you will score a points total, based on your performance relative to the world record in your class. Head to our para-swimming classification page for more information.
Set Your Goals
An important part of progress for anything in life is setting goals and working hard to reach them. You might already know that your goal is to compete at the Paralympic Games – but what is the first step on that journey? Why not download the qualification times for the next Paralympic Games, put them on your wall, and use them as motivation every time you get up for swimming practice?
If you have questions about para-swimming in England, let us know by getting in touch on paratalent@swimming.org.
Compete
Here are some draft listings for para competitions around the UK during 2022-2023
| Region | Competition | Date | Venue | Entry information |
| West Midlands | National Junior Para-Swimming Championships 2023 | 17th and 18th June 2023 | Alan Higgs Centre, Coventry |
Contact
If you have any further queries about para-swimming in the North East Region, please contact: louise.graham@swimnortheast.org.