Flitwick Dolphins Swimming Club would like to welcome swimmers of all abilities to the Club. Our ethos is to work towards being ‘A Club for All’ where we coach to the ability, not the disability. We will endeavour to make “reasonable adjustments” to coaching and training to provide equal opportunities for all swimmers.
Swimmers attend a swim trial, usually once SE Learn to Swim pathway has been undertaken. This then allows the swimmer’s ability to be assessed by the coaching team and appropriate allocation made to a squad and training programme.
If the Club does not feel it has the correct level of experience to provide the best for an individual, they will try to find an alternative swimming programme, organisation or club that can assist the swimmer.
Bedfordshire: Disability and para swimming
Disability swimming encompasses physical disabilities and learning difficulties and aims to provide inclusive competition and development opportunities. Deaf swimmers are also included in disability swimming but also have the opportunity to compete in able-bodied events. From school-based competitions right up to the Paralympic Games, there is a wide range of para-swimming competitions available for swimmers with disabilities. As members of Swim England through the club, swimmers with disabilities will be encouraged to compete alongside non-disabled swimmers in open meets from the SE Licensed Meets calendar.
As well as training with their home clubs, Bedfordshire disability/para swimmers, attend development training sessions across the East Region during the year.
Bedfordshire hosts a training development camp once a year for disability /para swimmers from across the region which is well attended by Bedfordshire swimmers as well as many swimmers from across the East Region. As a club we encourage our senior swimmers to support such events by acting as volunteer helpers. In 2019, some of these swimmers were asked to help at the World Para Swimming Allianz Championships, which was a great honour.
As disability competitors progress through their careers they can become classified if they meet the criteria for classification. Classification involves swimmers being assessed to determine to what degree their disability impairs their swimming. They are then placed in the corresponding category from S1 to S14. Further details can be found via the links listed below:
https://bedscountyasa.com/para-swimming/
https://www.paralympic.org/swimming/classification
https://www.swimming.org/sport/para-swimming-classification/
https://www.britishswimming.org/performance/para-swimming/classification/
https://www.swimming.org/sport/para-swimming-competitions
For further information, please contact us via our Club Secretary on secretary@flitwickdolphins.org.uk