Paralympic blind swimmers tapped to show they should turn

S11, SB11, SM11 are disability swimming classifications for blind swimmers.

Sport

This classification is for

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

. In the classification title, S represents Freestyle, Backstroke and Butterfly strokes. SB means breaststroke. SM means individual medley. Jane Buckley, writing for the

Sporting Wheelies The Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association is the peak body for sport, recreation and fitness for people with a physical disability or vision impairment in the Australian state of Queensland. The not-for-profit organisation's mission was 't ...

, describes the swimmers in this classification as having: "unable to see at all and are considered totally blind (see IBSA B1 – appendix). Swimmers must wear blackened goggles if they swim in this class. They will also require someone to tap them when they are approaching a wall."

Getting classified

Internationally, the classification is done by the

International Blind Sports Association The International Blind Sports Federation () is a non-profit organisation founded 1981 in Paris, France. It was formerly known as the International Blind Sports Association. IBSA's mission is to promote the full integration of blind and parti ...

. In Australia, to be classified in this category, athletes contact the

Australian Paralympic Committee Paralympics Australia (PA) previously called the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) (1998–2019) is the National Paralympic Committee in Australia for the Paralympic Games movement. It oversees the preparation and management of Australian tea ...

or their state swimming governing body. In the United States, classification is handled by the

United States Paralympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Co ...

on a national level. The classification test has three components: "a bench test, a water test, observation during competition." American swimmers are assessed by four people: a medical classified, two general classified and a technical classifier.

At the Paralympic Games

For the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, fro ...

in Rio, the International Paralympic Committee had a zero classification at the Games policy. This policy was put into place in 2014, with the goal of avoiding last minute changes in classes that would negatively impact athlete training preparations. All competitors needed to be internationally classified with their classification status confirmed prior to the Games, with exceptions to this policy being dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

Competitions

For this classification, organisers of the Paralympic Games have the option of including the following events on the Paralympic programme: 50m, 100m and 400m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke, 100m Breaststroke, 100m Butterfly, 200m Individual Medley, and Freestyle Relay and Medley Relay.

Records

, in the S11 50 m Freestyle

Long Course An Olympic-size swimming pool conforms to regulated dimensions that are large enough for international competition. This type of swimming pool is used in the Olympic Games, where the race course is in length, typically referred to as "long cour ...

, the men's world record is held by

Yang Bozan Yang may refer to: * Yang, in yin and yang, one half of the two symbolic polarities in Chinese philosophy * Korean yang, former unit of currency of Korea from 1892 to 1902 * YANG, a data modeling language for the NETCONF network configuration pr ...

and the women's world record is held by Cecilia Camellini. In the S11 400 m Freestyle Long Course, the men's world record is held by the American John Morgan and the women's world record is held by the American

Anastasia Pagonis Anastasia Pagonis ( el, Αναστασία Παγώνης; born May 2, 2004) is an American Paralympic swimmer. She represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Paralympics. She is a world record and American record holder within the sport. ...

Competitors

Swimmers who have competed in this classification include

Alexander Chekurov Alexander Chekurov (Russian: Александр Николаевич Чекуров, born 26 May 1974) is a Paralympic swimmer from Russia competing mainly in category S11 events. Alexander won the bronze medal in the 50m freestyle at the 2 ...

Enhamed Enhamed Enhamed Enhamed Mohamed Yahdih (born 11 September 1987 in Las Palmas, Canary Islands) is a Paralympic swimmer from Spain. He is an B1/S11 type swimmer. Personal Enhamed is blind. A motivational speaker, Enhamed likes to describe the moment ...

and

Junichi Kawai is a Japanese Paralympic swimmer competing mainly in category S11 events. Career Junichi has competed in five summer paralympics winning a total of 21 medals, five gold nine silver and seven bronze. His first games c ...

who all won medals in their class at the

2008 Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was ...

. American swimmers who have been classified by the United States Paralympic Committee as being in this class include Katie Pavlacka, Rio Popper, Julianna Raiche and Rylie Robinson.

References

{{Para-swimming classifications Swimming at the Summer Paralympics Parasports classifications