News for Swimmers with a Disability
October 2004

1. U.S. Paralympics had hoped to begin an annual swimming competition in December of each year to parallel the U.S. Open that USA-Swimming conducts for able-bodied swimmers. However, the event will not be held in 2004 due to conflicts in scheduling and obtaining International Paralympic Committee approval for the meet.
   
   Information on U.S. Paralympics 2005 Programs and Sport Schedules should become available in December.



2. While not yet approved, the USA-S Adapted Swimming Committee is working to establish a Junior Division (18 & Under) with no entry standards as part of the US Disability Championships, Jun 9-11, 2005 in Minneapolis. The concept would be to conduct this Junior Division as Timed Final heats interspersed with the Prelim heats of the Upper Division. There is also the possibility of adding additional classification standards to the USA-S system that are independent of the IPC. One possibility would be to separately classify Autism, whose members currently exceed the IQ threshold of the IPC S14 classification.



3. 2005 also presents a unique and exciting opportunity for USA Swimming's development of swimmers with a disability. A camp is being planned for Jun 11-13 in Minneapolis. Fourteen athletes, preferably between the ages of 13-18 will be selected from Clubs across the nation. Workouts will be lead by Head Coach Kiko Van Zandt of Pacific Northwest who has extensive experience and expertise in coaching athletes with disabilities. Each selected swimmer will have the opportunity to bring his/her coach as well. The coach will participate in the workouts, discussions and activities and hopefully learn from the other coaches in attendance.
   
   Applications and selection criteria are expected to be posted in January 2005.



4. In an unprecedented agreement with U.S. Paralympics, Visa USA has committed to be the sole and exclusive U.S. television sponsor of the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games, which will appear on Outdoor Life Network (OLN). A two-hour program will recap the 11 days of competition that took place in Athens, Greece through September 28th, and will be brought to the viewing public by Visa on OLN with limited commercial interruptions on Saturday, November 13, 5-7 p.m. Eastern Time. Check your local listings.