MULTI CLASS AND INCLUSIVE ATHLETES : ACC DIVISIONAL SWIMMING CARNIVALS
ACC students with a disability can compete in the ACC Age Championship Swimming Carnivals on the appropriate day for their school. All students are welcome to compete whether they are Multi Class (classified) or Inclusive (non classified) athletes. The ACC recognises there are athletes with a disability, who have been identified by the school as athletically talented but are yet to commence their athletic journey with coaching and club competition, however would benefit from competing at a higher level of a division carnival These athletes can be nominated as an Inclusive athletes, for the ACC divisional swimming carnivals.
Sports Coordinators / Educators, as they would for any athlete, are to take careful consideration before nominating an inclusive athlete into an event(s) at an ACC divisional swimming carnival
Students MUST BE ABLE to swim 50m, WITHOUT PAUSING, to participate at ACC Divisional swimming carnivals.
NOMINATION
- There are no qualifying times or limits on the number of individual entries from each school for Multi Class and or Inclusive swimmers.
- When staff nominate a Multi Class or Inclusive athlete, the athletes profile must be updated first.
- Select the ATHLETE tab from the top of screen
- Type the athletes first or surname in the search bar and hit FIND
- Select the pencil icon to the left of the athletes name
- Go to the bottom of the page, and from the drop down menu, change the STATUS to either MC or INCLUSIVE
- If a Multi Class athlete, you must then enter their classification(s) eg S15 SB15 SM15
- Hit SAVE
NOTE : if an athlete is competing as an INCLUSIVE athlete, no classification is to be provided at the time of nomination
- Go back into your NOMINATIONS tab, and select the athlete for their respective events
PLEASE NOTE :
- you only nominate an athlete in the event(s) they are competing in. ie if they are ONLY swimming in the Multi Class breaststroke, then nominate as such.
- However, if they have achieved the ACC swimming qualifying time, they will have the option of swimming with their age category.
- You DO NOT then need to nominate them for the Multi Class event as well
- The system will recognise the athlete is Multi Class, and a calculation will be undertaken at event end, to identify if they have set and or broken a Multi Class record.
On carnival day, swimmers will marshal and compete in the programmed Multi Class / Inclusive events which include:
50m Freestyle
50m Breaststroke
50m Backstroke
50m Butterfly
Individual swim results for classified swimmers will be recorded and collated. However, no points will be allocated to the swimmers’ school team results. The exception is only those Multi Class swimmers, that are competing as an age category swimmer for their school.
Only Multi Class athletes will be eligible for ACC records and All Stars Team selection. Inclusive athletes will still receive a time for their own performance.
Multi Class results are calculated according to the student’s classification using the Multi Class Point Score Calculator (MCPS). This score is based off the World Record for their classification, awarding points to the competitor according to how close they are to the World Record. This means that the first Multi Class swimmer to touch the wall will not necessarily be the winner.
All Multi Class Swimming results will be forwarded to Swimming WA with swimmer’s times considered for development and state team selection.
SWIMMING WA CLASSIFICATION CATEGORIES
| CLASSIFICATION | DETAILS |
| 1 - 10 | those with a physical impairment |
| 11 - 13 | those with a visual impairment |
| 14 | those with an intellectual impairment |
| 15 | those with a hearing impairment |
| 16 | those with a transplant |
| 17 | transition classification |
| 18 | those with a significant other impairment (ie Down Syndrome) |
| 19 | those with high functioning autism |
SWIMMING WA CLASSIFICATION PROCESS
Swimming Australia has simplified the process of getting classified through the Multi Class Swimming Engagement Portal. By completing a few short questions, the portal will help you determine if your student might be eligible to be classified. From there you’ll be provided with the information you need to go and get classified.
Access the Multi Class Swimming Engagement Portal here: http://form.jotformpro.com/form/43058918602962
Organisations involved with classification processes:
- Physical Impairment | Swimming WA
- Visual Impairment | Specialist & Australian Paralympic Committee
- Intellectual Impairment | Swimming WA & Sport Inclusion Australia
- Hearing Impairment | Deaf Sports Australia
- Transplant | Transplant Australia
- Autism & other impairments | Swimming WA & Sport Inclusion Australia
PHYSICAL IMPAIRMENT CLASSIFICATION TYPES
Provisional
Allows the individual to compete at school & club level. To obtain a provisional classification, students must complete sections 1-4 of the Provisional Evaluation Kit, & attach a copy of a report or letter from a medical doctor stating the students diagnosed medical condition with their application. Please contact Cherie on her email address below for a Provisional Evaluation Kit for physical impairments.
National
Performed by a medical & technical classifier & allows students to compete at National level competition. These are organised quarterly in WA & are free of charge.
INTELLECTUAL IMPAIRMENT / DOWN SYNDROME / AUTISM
Sport Inclusion Australia have provided a summary table of the sport eligibility criteria for individuals with an intellectual impairment, down syndrome, or autism:
https://sportinclusionaustralia.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/SIAElegibilityInfo.pdf
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For more information on multi class swimming, visit the following link:
https://wa.swimming.org.au/resources/athlete-services/multi-class-swimming
Alternatively, you can contact
Cherie Pirnie
ACC Sport Operations Manager - Inclusion )
cherie.pirnie@cewa.edu.au
Or the Swimming WA Development & Inclusion Officer: classification@wa.swimming.org.au