Accommodating Athletes with Disabilities

Did you know that USA Swimming has a long standing commitment to creating an environment where each and every athlete can perform in a safe, accommodating, and fun way? USA Swimming has made sure to provide guidelines and accommodations for 3 levels of disabled athletes, P1, P2, and P3. Each of these levels comes with their own accommodations, as well as their own motivational standards depending on the level of disability. P1 is for non ambulatory athletes,  P2 includes dwarfism, multiple limb deficiencies, or ambulatory with assistance, and P3 covers single limb deficiencies, visual/intellectual/hearing impairment and those who are ambulatory without assistance. The accommodations can range from physical cues when approaching a wall, modifying the distance of a race so the swimmer can compete with the same age group, to have signals being used by the starters and officials at a meet! This helps give every athlete the same chance to compete at their highest level possible. To learn more, click here.