Swimming is one of the world’s most popular sports for athletes with an intellectual impairment.
Virtus provides a full programme of strokes and long course distances at world, regional Championships and the Virtus Global Games.
Swimming is also on the Paralympic programme, with a number of medal events on offer for athletes who compete in the S14 classification.
Swimmers interested in competing at a high level first need to contact their National Federation.
History
Swimming has been on the Virtus programme since the first ‘World Games for Athletes with an Intellectual Disability’ were held in Harnosand, Sweden, in 1989. It has consistently been an extremely popular sport due to the accessibility of pools in most countries.
The sport was also one of the first to feature at a Paralympic Games. When the first events for athletes with an intellectual impairment were held at Sydney 2000, swimming was one of the sports included alongside athletics and basketball.
World Championships have been held by Virtus since 2004, with a variety of smaller competitions and regional Championships are held or sanctioned every year. Swimming is one of the sports contested at the Virtus Global Games, held every four years.
In 2017 the World Championships in Aguascalientes, Mexico, were the first to feature two new trial eligibility groups. These were for athletes with Down’s syndrome and autism.
Details of upcoming competitions can be found on the events page.
Rules And Regulations
Virtus competitions are run according to the World Para Swimming rules and regulations.
For more information on the sport specification and rules click here (section 7.9)
Records
Results
All results from 1989 through to the present day are available at results, rankings and records pages.
Swimming Committee
- Chair – Dave Harman (Ecuador)
- Americas – Celeste Sychterz (USA)
- Europe – Ivan Volosach (RUS)
- Asia – Arthur Lee Yan Hong (SIN)
- Africa – Ina Fowler (RSA)
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Andrew Parsons and Marc Truffaut discussed having more classes for athletes with II.
People with disabilities constitutes 15% of the world's population. Out of this 15%, 0.13% people have Down Syndrome, i.e., 10.2 million people.
Virtus launched II2 class- a class for athletes with significant Intellectual impairment, such as Down syndrome, and provided them a pathway to participate in Virtus events.
This is an exclusive video footage where President of International Paralympic Commitee, Andrew Parsons and Virtus President Marc Truffaut are discussing having more classes for athletes with Intelectual Impairment in the future Paralympic Games. -
2022 Virtus Oceania Asia Games- Brisbane Lord Mayor
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Robyn Smith's message on International Women's Day 2022 #BreakTheBias #Virtus
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Reece Dunn- The Golden boy from Tokyo 2020 Paralympics
Reece Dunn is an athlete with an intellectual Impairment from Great Britain. He won 3 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games and emerged as the most decorated athlete with an Intellectual Impairment. He was also the most successful British athlete. -
Presentation of the Virtus para equestrian video competition 2021 (senior section)
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Presentation of the Virtus para equestrian video competition 2021 (youth section)
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Breanna Clarke (USA) Gold Medallist Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games
Breanna Clarke (USA) Gold Medallist Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games 400m (T20) shares her Games experience. -
MakingInvisibleVISIBLE - Celebrating Tokyo 2020 Paralympians in Intellectual Impairment class events
The Paralympians who competed at Tokyo2020 in Athletics, Swimming, and Table Tennis in the intellectual impairment class events. 63 Medals. 120 Athletes. You shine like stars!
Photo credit: OIS Photos
Virtus World Intellectual Impairment Sport, “Virtus” is the brand name of the International Federation for athletes with intellectual impairment and is a founding member of the International Paralympic Committee. Registered as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation in the UK (1173901)