Paralympic swimming among international sports caters to people with disabilities, combining limb loss, cerebral palsy, spinal-cord injury and other conditions across a range of categories. Rather than distinguish people by different types of disabilities, the International Paralympic Committee classifies athletes based on their disabilities' severity. Using a number for the severity of disability and letter for the event, some swimmers may be classified differently depending on the event.
Numeric Classifications
According to the International Paralympic Committee, swimmers receive numeric classifications based on their muscle strength, coordination, range of movement and limb length. Swimmers must perform all Paralympic strokes to aid with assessing the severity of their disability. Based on these tests, swimmers receive a numeric classification ranging from 1 to 14, with lower numbers indicating a more severe disability.
Severity and Disability
While Paralympic swimmers are not placed into different groups based on physical disability, the International Paralympic Committee divides swimmers into three disability groups: physical, visual and intellectual. Swimmers classified from 1 to 10 are those with physical disabilities, ranging from severely disabled to mildly disabled as the numeric classification increases. Athletes with a visual disability receive classifications from 11 to 13, ranging from no sight to legally blind with some sight. The remaining classification is reserved for athletes with intellectual disability, with a classification of 14 given to all intellectually disabled athletes.
Event Classification
In addition to their numeric classification, athletes receive an alphabetic classification depending on their event. For those competing in freestyle, backstroke and butterfly events, the letter S is used. The remaining two events, breaststroke and individual medley, are denoted by the alphabetic classifications "SB" and "SM," respectively. For instance, a breaststroke swimmer with no sight is classified as SB11, while a moderately disabled backstroke swimmer may be placed in the S6 category.
Multiple Classifications
While the classifications determined by the International Paralympic Committee are as objective as possible, they are not concrete for any athlete. Due to the different effects that certain disabilities may have on an athlete's ability to perform different strokes or at different distances, athletes competing in multiple events may receive multiple classifications. For example, an athlete classified as S7 for a butterfly event may not be as physically hindered for the individual medley, and would receive SM5 classification for the medley event.
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