Swimming at the Summer Paralympics

Swimming at the Summer Paralympics
Governing body IPC
Events 147 (men: 82; women: 65)
Games
1960 • 1964 • 1968 • 1972 • 1976 • 1980
1984 • 1988 • 1992 • 1996 • 2000 • 2004
2008 • 2012 • 2016
Medalists • Records
Australian swimmer Priya Cooper acknowledges the crowd after another winning performance in the S8 class at the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games

Swimming has been contested at every Summer Paralympics. At the first games, the 1960 Paralympics, 62 swimming events were held in distances of 25 and 50 metres, plus a 3×50 metre relay for men. Since then, swimming at the Paralympics has grown to 140 events covering distances from 50 to 400 metres, plus 4×50 and 4×100 metre relays. Along with track and field athletics, it is one of the largest sports at the Paralympics in terms of the number of events, competitors, and spectators.

As with most Paralympic sports, athletes are classified according to the type and extent of their disability.

The International Paralympic Committee recognizes the fastest times swam at the games as Paralympic records.

Multiple Paralympic swimming medalists

This table is updated to the 2012 Paralympics.

Athlete Nation Years active Class(es) Gold Silver Bronze Total
Zorn, TrischaTrischa Zorn United States 1980 - 2004 B1, B2, B3 41 9 4 54
Freney, JacquelineJacqueline Freney Australia 2008 - 2012 SM7, S7, S8, 34pts 8 0 3 11
Narita, MayumiMayumi Narita Japan 1996 - 2004 SM4, S4, SB3, 20pts 15 3 2 20
Edgson, MichaelMichael Edgson Canada 1984 - 1992 B3 18 0 0 18
Scott, ElizabethElizabeth Scott United States 1992 - 2000 B3? 10 2 5 17
Hess, BéatriceBéatrice Hess France 1984 - 2004 S5 20 5 0 25
Popovich, ErinErin Popovich United States 2000 - 2008 S6, S7 14 5 0 19
Bergman, UriUri Bergman Israel 1976 - 1988 ? 11 0 1 12
Hengst, ClaudiaClaudia Hengst West Germany 1988 - 2004 L6, SM10 13 4 8 25
Paton, SiobhanSiobhan Paton Australia 2000 S14 6 0 0 6
Kenny, MikeMike Kenny Great Britain 1976 - 1988 1A, 1C 16 2 0 18
Cowdrey, MatthewMatthew Cowdrey Australia 2004 - 2012 S9 13 7 3 23
Dixon, StephanieStephanie Dixon Canada 2000 - 2008 S9 7 8 2 17
Cooper, PriyaPriya Cooper Australia 1992 - 2000 S8 9 3 4 16
du Toit, NatalieNatalie du Toit South Africa 2004 - 2012 S9 13 2 0 15
Trondsen, ErlingErling Trondsen Norway 1976 - 1992 ? 13 ? ? 20
Dias, DanielDaniel Dias Brazil 2008 - 2012 S5 10 4 1 15
Roberts, DavidDavid Roberts Great Britain 2000 - 2008 S7 11 4 1 16
Holmes, ChristopherChristopher Holmes Great Britain 1988 - 2000 S12? 9 5 1 15

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Swimming at the Summer Paralympics.