Venue and Training at Newark

We are fortunate to have a very accessible venue at Newark Sports and Fitness centre with a straight forward layout, ample disabled toilets and changing facilities. There is also a pool pod (pictured) for swimmers who need assistance entering the pool.

Our Head Coach has experience of training with and coaching swimmers of a variety of classifications including hearing impairment, visual impairment and physical impairments. Some of these swimmers have been happy swimming once or twice per week to keep fit, whilst others have reached national and international level.

We aim to provide a place where all swimmers will be integrated into sessions so they feel part of the squad, whilst also making adaptations to suit individual swimming needs.

If you/ your child is interested please Join Us or fill in a trial request form. We ask that you provide plenty of information to give us a head start.

Para-Swimming Classification

There are 15 different categories in swimming – a more detailed description can be found on the British swimming website. To get classified, swimmers have to go through the classification process – but this can be sorted at a later date.

 Physical Impairment

S1-10 – A wide range of impairments with examples listed on the website above. The lower the number the more severe the impairment.

 Visual impairment

S11: These athletes have a very low visual acuity and/ or no light perception.

S12: Athletes have a higher visual acuity than athletes competing in the S11 sport class and/ or a visual field of less than 5 degrees radius.

S13: They have the highest visual acuity and/or a visual field of less than 20 degrees radius.

In order to ensure a fair competition athletes in the S/SB11 sport class are required to wear blackened goggles.

To ensure safety all S11 swimmers must use a tapper, swimmers in the S12 and S13 sport classes may choose whether or not they wish to use one.

 Intellectual impairment

S14 – This typically leads to the athletes having difficulties with regards to pattern recognition, sequencing, and memory, or having a slower reaction time, which impact on sport performance in general.

 Competition Opportunities

Para Swimmers have access to all of the competitions that Newark are part of (ability/experience dependant), but there are a number of additional opportunities available depending on the level a swimmer has reached. Swimmers race against swimmers of all classifications and receive points based on how close they are to the current British record. This ensures a level playing field across all classifications.

County – Nottinghamshire County Championships include separate para events as part of the event schedule. The county has a rich history of producing high level para swimmers.

Regional - The East & West Midlands run an annual Para Swimming Championships, normally around the 2nd Sunday of October. There are also regional para training days, for swimmers of a high enough level.

Nationals – Para Swimming events are included as part of the event schedule.

 Hearing Impairment

While the IPC runs competitions for swimmers with physical, visual and intellectual impairments, it does not currently cater for deaf swimmers.

However, Swim England work with the Great Britain Deaf Swimming Club to support the inclusion of deaf-classified swimmers in domestic and international competitions.

The primary classification for deaf swimmers – defined as having at least 55dB impairment in your better ear – is S15 while the Great Britain Deaf Swimming Club and Swim England also use S65 class to represent swimmers who are registered to compete in domestic, but not international, competitions as deaf-classified athletes.