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Para-swimming will see some big changes this year, with the IPC ( International Paralympic Committee) rolling out an updated manual with new rules on classification. IPC swimmers are each classified into one of fourteen different classes, to allow swimmer to compete against others with the same physical attributes: missing limbs, visual impairments, etc. Paralympic star Mallory Weggemann produced an excellent piece last summer explaining the classification system in more detail; you can read that story here. The current classification system has hit some snags in the past few years, though. Before the 2012 Paralympics in London, several athletes (including Weggemann and fellow American Justin Zook) were reclassified to new classes at the last minute leading the IPC to spread their classification screenings out in order to avoid such last-minute suprises. This summer, controversy brewed at the IPC World Championships in Glasgow, with Australia’s Maddison Elliott being reclassified multiple times during the meet. A U. S. coach tweeted critical comments about the reclassification and was removed from the coaching staff for the Para Pan Am Games later in the summer. Then there’s the case of Ian Silverman, who was abruptly classified right out of IPC Swimming when the IPC ruled that he was no long considered a para-swimmer, despite having cerebral palsy. With all of that chaos in mind, the IPC has updated its rules and regulations with some very different classification procedures. Tom Miazga, a star of the U. S. Paralympics Team, helped walk us through the changes: Water Test Changes Swimmers must now swim a full 50 meters of each stroke (previously less than a 25) Freestyle must include a turn (a flip turn or other turn if the athlete does not use flip turns) with 5 meters of swimming after the turn Everything must be done at race pace Classifiers must declare why they added points to.
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