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Swimming Australia (SAL) has developed the Multi Class Swimming Engagement Portal to assist swimmers with a disability to “Get Classified, Get Involved and Get Discovered” in swimming.
The Multi Class Swimming Engagement Portal will provide swimmers with everything they need to know about getting classified as well as helping to access club and competition opportunities.
With the help of the State and Territory swimming associations SAL is able to deliver Multi Class swimming competitions from club level all the way to Australian Championships.
This online tool will help Multi-Class swimmers access these competitions throughout the year.
Multi Class swimming events use minor modifications to the swimming rules to provide fair and meaningful competition for swimmers with a range of disabilities.
Swimmers with physical, visual, intellectual and hearing impairment and those who have received a transplant may be eligible to participate in Multi Class swimming events.
There are minimum impairment requirements and swimmers need to be classified to determine their eligibility.
World record holder in the 100m backstroke S9 Ellie Cole said the Multi Class swimming competitions had played a significant role in where she is today.
“The opportunity to race in Multi-Class swimming events across Australia has enabled me to get to where I am today, wearing the green and gold for Australia, confidently standing on the blocks ready to race on the world stage,” said Cole.
Australian Dolphin Grant Patterson added that Multi Class racing has done a lot for his health and allowed him to achieve international success.
“When I first got into swimming I was slightly overweight and not very motivated. Multi Class racing in Australia has changed my mindset on living an active and healthy life style,” Patterson said.
The online tool also collects important information which will help SAL discover and support talented swimmers who aspire to represent Australia.
“This is a new resource that will help Swimming Australia engage and develop future Dolphins like Tiffany Thomas-Kane, Timothy Hodge and Monique Murphy who are all currently competing in the 2015 IPC World Championships in Glasgow,” said Adam Pine, Paralympic Performance Manager at SAL.
Swimming Australia’s Multi Class competition pathway underpins Australia’s success on the world stage.
Swimmers who have progressed through the Multi Class pathway are representing Australia at the following international competitions in 2015.
• July 2015 – Dolphins Australian Swim Team – IPC World Championships, Glasgow Scotland (Swimming Australia) – http://www.swimming.org.au/aust-swim-team.html | http://www.paralympic.org/glasgow-2015
• August 2015 – Australian Deaflympic Swim Team – World Deaf Swimming Championships, Texas USA (Deaf Sports Australia) – www.deafsports.org.au |www.wdsc2015.us
• September 2015 – Australian Global Games Swim Team – Global Games, Quito Ecuador (AUSRAPID) – www.ausrapid.org.au |https://fededi.org.ec/index.php/inas-global-games
To access the Multi Class Swimming Engagement portal and get more information about Multi Class Swimming click here.
By Swimming Australia
Posted: 17/7/2015
