Swimming
Para swimming has been contested at 16 Paralympic Games, first appearing in Rome in 1960. Learning to swim is an important life skill and can open up a wide range of water based sport and activity opportunities. There are opportunities to learn to swim and progress in recreational or competitive swimming for both children and adults in Wales.
Photo © Disability Sport Wales / Riley Sports Photography. A participant taking part in swimming at insport Series: Swim, Bike, Run
Main Photo © Swim Wales. Welsh elite para swimmer Rhys Darbey.
Get Involved
To find out how to start participating in swimming you can refer to the Swim Wales website and the DSW club finder.
National Governing Body for Swimming in Wales:
For more information about coaching and volunteering, please Contact Us.
Competitive Pathways
There are pathways that lead to:
To find out what your potential is and and for guidance in competitive pathways, please complete the Disability Sport Wales #inspireform.
Individual races vary in distance from 50 to 400 metres across a range of classifications and strokes.
Eligibility
To compete in a Paralympic or Commonwealth pathway in swimming, a person must have an eligible impairment type. The eligible impairment types for competitive swimming are:
- Impaired muscle power
- Impaired passive range of movement
- Limb deficiency
- Leg length difference
- Short stature
- Hypertonia
- Athetosis
- Ataxia
- Intellectual impairment
- Visual impairment
You can find out more about the eligible impairment types in Para Swimming here