SAVE THE DATE: 2024 Swimming U.S. Paralympic Trials (Minneapolis)

THE INFORMATION BELOW IS FOR SWIMMERS WITH
INTELLECTUAL IMPAIRMENT (S14 Class)

Hosted and Sanctioned by U.S. Paralympic Swimming

Competition Dates: June 27 – 29, 2024
The event will feature three days of competition, followed by a team naming celebration to announce the athletes who will represent Team USA at the Paralympic Games in Paris.

Location: Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center on the University of Minnesota’s campus in Minneapolis

Event Webpage: www.usparaswimming.org/parateamtrials-swimming

Event Registration Deadlines: will be posted on event webpage

Meet Packet: will be posted on event webpage

Registration Link: will be posted on event webpage – Swimmers should register directly with the event organizers as part of their home team or individually.

Qualifying Time Standards/Events: Time standards must be met — check the event website for more details regarding time standards. Paralympic Emerging Team time standards are published at: https://www.usparaswimming.org/standards.

Note that only select swim events are open to S14 swimmers at the Paralympic Games: 200m free, 100m back, 100m breast, 100m fly, 200m IM, and 4x100m free relay.

Eligibility Criteria: Paralympic meets are open to swimmers with a physical impairment (Classes S1-S10), visual impairment (Classes S11-S13), or intellectual impairment (Class S14).

In Past years athletes needed to have already attended meets that offered an IPC Classification appointment so that their classification status was already “C” confirmed.

Class S14 Eligiblity Application: Athletes with Intellectual Impairment (Autism, Down Syndrome & Intellectual Disability with IQ of 75 or lower) who may meet Paralympic Trials time standards should have complete full Virtus II1 International level Eligiblity by completing the AWL-Virtus Eligibility Application. It can take from 4-12 weeks to complete International eligibility so new athletes should apply as early as possible. Evidence needed includes photoID, and IQ and Adaptive Behavior assessments from within the last 5 years. AWL will inform U.S. Paralympics of new swimmers who have completed S14 eligibility for Classification.

Class S14 Criteria:   Swimmers who meet the Virtus II1/Paralympic S14 eligibility criteria below are eligible to compete in Paralympic-sanctioned swim meets:

1. IQ Assessment showing IQ of 75 or lower,
2. Adaptive Behavior Assessment showing significant limitation in at least one domain area, and
3. Onset before age 22

Special note to swimmers with Autism: Athletes with Autism must have an IQ of 75 or lower to be eligible for Paralympic S14 swimming. This is different from AWL trips to Virtus-sanctioned meets, which offer an additional competition group for those with Autism and an IQ of 76 or higher (called Virtus II3) – so we encourage you to apply for Virtus events!

Special note to swimmers with Down Syndrome: The Paralympic S14 class is only open to athletes who meet the Virtus II1 Criteria for Intellectual Disability, which is based on IQ and Adaptive Scores. This is different from AWL trips to Virtus-sanctioned meets which offer a separate competition group specifically for athletes with Down Syndrome (called Virtus II2). Therefore swimmers with Down Syndrome should apply for dual eligibility in the Virtus II1 group (based on IQ and Adaptive Scores) in order to be classified for Paralympics swimming and the Virtus II2 group (based on Cytogenetic Report showing Down Syndrome) for Virtus events.