S13, SB13, SM13 are disability swimming classifications used for categorising swimmers based on their level of disability. Jane Buckley, writing for the Sporting Wheelies, describes the swimmers in this classification as having: "Swimmers who are the most sighted but are considered to be blind according to the IBSA B3."

History

The classification was created by the

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; german: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and fun ...

and has roots in a 2003 attempt to address "the overall objective to support and co-ordinate the ongoing development of accurate, reliable, consistent and credible sport focused classification systems and their implementation." For the

2016 Summer Paralympics ) , nations = 159 , athletes = 4,342 , opening = 7 September , closing = 18 September , opened_by = President Michel Temer , cauldron = Clodoaldo Silva , events = 528 in 22 sports , stadium = Maracanã , sum ...

in Rio, the

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.

Sport

This classification is for swimming. 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, describes the swimmers in this classification as having: "Swimmers who are the most sighted but are considered to be blind according to the IBSA B3."

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 or their state swimming governing body. In the United States, classification is handled by the United States Paralympic Committee 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 classifier, two general classifiers and a technical classifier.

Competitions

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

Records

In the S13 50 m Freestyle Long Course, the men's world record is held by

Oleksii Fedyna Oleksii Fedyna (born 8 October 1987) is a visually impaired Paralympic swimmer from Ukraine competing in S13 events. Career Oleksii competed in seven events at the 2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summ ...

and the women's world record is held by

Yvonne Hopf Yvonne is a female given name. It is the feminine form of Yvon, which is derived from the French name Yves and Yvette. It is from the French word ''iv'', meaning "yew" (or tree). Since yew wood was used for bows, Ivo may have been an occupation ...

. In the S13 100 m Freestyle Long Course, the men's world record is held by South Africa's

Charles Bouwer Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was "f ...

and the women's world record is held by Canada's

Valerie Grand-Maison Valerie may refer to: People *Saint Valerie (disambiguation), a number of saints went by the name Valerie *Valerie (given name), a feminine given name Songs *"Valerie", a 1981 song by Quarterflash, from ''Quarterflash'' *"Valerie", a 1982 son ...

. In the SB13 100 m breaststroke, the women's world record is held by Fotimakhon Amilova.

Competitors

Swimmers who have competed in this classification include Dmytro Aleksyeyev,

Kelley Becherer } Kelley Becherer (born July 3, 1990, in Sheboygan, Wisconsin), is a visually impaired Paralympic swimmer. At the 2008 Summer Paralympics she won a gold medal and two bronze medals. She also competed at the 2004 Summer Paralympics and won two gold ...

and

Charl Bouwer Charles "Charl" Bouwer (born 27 March 1990) is a paralympic swimmer from South Africa competing in category S13 events. He was born in Kimberley. Swimming career Paralympics At the 2004 Summer Paralympics he competed in the 100m backstr ...

who all won medals in their class at the 2008 Paralympics. American swimmers who have been classified by the United States Paralympic Committee as being in this class include Eric Chausse, Natalio Abar, and Blake Adams.

References

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