At Evesham Swimming Club we are proud to support swimmers with impairments. We recognise the need to support each person individually but at the same time ensure everyone has the relevant access to thrive in our swimming club environment. 

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At ESC we currently have two swimmers registered at the club and would welcome anyone else to get in touch to see what we can offer. If you love swimming, we want to support you to thrive in the sport.

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Please do contact us about joining if you are interested.

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Para-swimming classification

Para-swimming classification is used to ensure a level playing field for competitive para-swimmers.

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Swimmers are classed in one of 15 groups based on their degree of ability, with each group indicating a different level of physical, visual, intellectual or hearing impairment.

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The nature of a swimmer’s impairment – particularly in the physical classes – means that they may have more ability to swim one stroke than another.

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For this reason, a prefix is also used in para-swimming classification:

• The prefix S represents freestyle, backstroke and butterfly

• The prefix SB refers to breaststroke classification

• The prefix SM represents classification for individual medley events.

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International Paralympic Committee classification

The current para-swimming classification set out by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) uses classes S1 – S10 for different levels of physical impairment, with a lower number indicating a more severe impairment.

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This information is taken from the Swim England website. More information can be found by visiting the linked page. Below also provides a step-by-step guide to getting into para-swimming.

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5 Steps for getting started in Para Swimming

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