DEI
Get to Know PARA Swimming
USA Swimming, Ohio Swimming, and Buckeye strive to make swimming accessible to all youth. As such, we have great opportunities for other abled children to compete at high levels.
USA Swimming National Disability Committee
Mission: USA Swimming encourages people with disabilities to participate in the sport of swimming and facilitates their inclusion in USA Swimming programs through education and collaboration.
Protocol for officiating a swimmer with a disability
The coach notifies the Meet Committee/Meet Referee when a swimmer with a disability is entered into a meet and requests the necessary accommodations.
The Meet Referee communicates with the coach and makes any reasonable accommodation(s) for the swimmer.
The Meet Referee is responsible for communicating the swimmer’s events and accommodation(s) to assigned Officials before the meet.
Stroke and Turn Officials observe swims per established meet protocol. If you observe something in violation of the rules, raise your hand.
It is the responsibility of the CJ and/or the Deck Referee to vet any call from an Official for a swimmer with a disability.
*This is meant to be a quick reference and not a complete document of rules and regulations governing USA swimmers with disabilities. Please refer to the complete USA Swimming Rules and Regulations for a comprehensive interpretation of Article 105.
105.1 General
Referee authority to modify the rules for the swimmer with a disability.
Referee Responsibilities:
Determining if the requested modifications are appropriate and can be met
Instructing the Starter and Stroke & Turn officials as to the accommodations to be made for that swimmer
Modifications:
Change in starting position.
Reassignment of lanes within a heat,
Allowing the swimmer to have a personal assistant(s)
105.2 Blind and Vision Loss
Start: A swimmer may require assistance getting to and on the block. An in-the-water start is allowed.
Turns and Finishes: A swimmer who is blind or has vision loss is permitted to have personal assistants (“tappers” who use poles with soft-tipped ends to tap the swimmer as notification of turns and the finish). Sound devices shall not be used.
Relay Take-Offs: A physical touch may be required to signal the relay swimmer when his/her teammate has touched the wall. The specific method may be tailored to the swimmer’s preference so long as it does not aid the swimmer’s take-off or interfere with the timing.
105.3 Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Start: A deaf or hard of hearing swimmer may require a visual starting signal strobe light and/or starter’s arm signal. The Referee may reassign lanes within the swimmer’s heat, i.e., exchanging one lane for another, so that the strobe light or Starter’s arm signal can more readily be seen by the deaf or hard of hearing swimmer.