Swimming at the Summer Paralympics facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Swimming at the Summer Paralympics |
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| Governing body | IPC |
| Events | 147 (men: 82; women: 65) |
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Swimming is a super exciting sport that has been part of every Summer Paralympics since the very first games in 1960! Back then, there were 62 swimming races, including 25-meter and 50-meter events, plus a 3x50-meter relay for men.
Since those early days, Paralympic swimming has grown a lot. Now, there are around 140 different events! Swimmers compete in distances from 50 meters all the way up to 400 meters, and there are also 4x50-meter and 4x100-meter relays. Swimming is one of the biggest sports at the Paralympics, with lots of events, athletes, and fans cheering them on, just like track and field.
Just like in most Paralympic sports, athletes are grouped into different categories based on their disability. This makes sure that competitions are fair and exciting for everyone.
The International Paralympic Committee keeps track of the fastest times ever swum at the games. These amazing achievements are known as Paralympic records.
Contents
Paralympic Swimming: A Quick Look
This table shows how many swimming events have been held at each Paralympic Games and which country won the most medals in swimming that year.
| Games | Year | Events | Top Nation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1960 | 69 |  Italy |
| 2 | 1964 | 62 |  United States |
| 3 | 1968 | 68 |  Great Britain |
| 4 | 1972 | 56 |  Netherlands |
| 5 | 1976 | 146 | Netherlands |
| 6 | 1980 | 193 |  Poland |
| 7 | 1984 | 347 | Netherlands |
| 8 | 1988 | 259 | United States |
| 9 | 1992 | 199 | United States |
| 10 | 1996 | 168 |  Germany |
| 11 | 2000 | 170 |  Canada |
| 12 | 2004 | 167 |  China |
| 13 | 2008 | 141 | United States |
| 14 | 2012 | 148 | China |
| 15 | 2016 | 153 | China |
| 16 | 2020 | 146 | China |
| 17 | 2024 | 141 | China |
Medal Winners by Country
This table shows which countries have won the most medals in Paralympic swimming, all the way up to the 2024 Summer Paralympics. Some countries listed here are no longer active, but they participated in past Paralympic Games.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States (USA) |
294 | 231 | 227 | 752 |
| 2 | Great Britain (GBR) |
248 | 265 | 244 | 757 |
| 3 | Netherlands (NED) |
191 | 136 | 118 | 445 |
| 4 | Canada (CAN) |
171 | 130 | 129 | 430 |
| 5 | China (CHN) |
161 | 146 | 116 | 423 |
| 6 |  Australia (AUS) |
149 | 180 | 185 | 514 |
| 7 |  France (FRA) |
122 | 113 | 114 | 349 |
| 8 | Poland (POL) |
119 | 115 | 86 | 320 |
| 9 |  Spain (ESP) |
112 | 130 | 126 | 368 |
| 10 |  Sweden (SWE) |
111 | 125 | 84 | 320 |
| 11 |  Ukraine (UKR) |
91 | 95 | 97 | 283 |
| 12 | West Germany (FRG) |
76 | 67 | 58 | 201 |
| 13 |  Norway (NOR) |
72 | 51 | 41 | 164 |
| 14 | Germany (GER) |
65 | 76 | 64 | 205 |
| 15 | Italy (ITA) |
65 | 71 | 73 | 209 |
| 16 |  Israel (ISR) |
63 | 59 | 52 | 174 |
| 17 |  Brazil (BRA) |
47 | 48 | 56 | 151 |
| 18 |  Japan (JPN) |
44 | 33 | 47 | 124 |
| 19 |  Denmark (DEN) |
38 | 37 | 65 | 140 |
| 20 |  South Africa (RSA) |
34 | 25 | 27 | 86 |
| 21 |  Russia (RUS) |
33 | 26 | 33 | 92 |
| 22 |  New Zealand (NZL) |
33 | 21 | 17 | 71 |
| 23 |  Mexico (MEX) |
32 | 20 | 31 | 83 |
| 24 |  Hungary (HUN) |
28 | 30 | 34 | 92 |
| 25 |  Belarus (BLR) |
25 | 12 | 6 | 43 |
| 26 |  Iceland (ISL) |
24 | 13 | 24 | 61 |
| 27 |  Austria (AUT) |
19 | 13 | 17 | 49 |
| 28 |  RPC (RPC) |
17 | 14 | 18 | 49 |
| 29 |  Neutral Paralympic Athletes (NPA) |
16 | 14 | 11 | 41 |
| 30 |  Argentina (ARG) |
15 | 26 | 25 | 66 |
| 31 |  Czech Republic (CZE) |
14 | 7 | 18 | 39 |
| 32 |  Rhodesia (RHO) |
12 | 13 | 11 | 36 |
| 33 |  Greece (GRE) |
11 | 18 | 14 | 43 |
| 34 |  Ireland (IRL) |
11 | 12 | 10 | 33 |
| 35 |  Finland (FIN) |
7 | 17 | 24 | 48 |
| 36 |  Unified Team (EUN) |
7 | 3 | 7 | 17 |
| 37 |  South Korea (KOR) |
7 | 2 | 5 | 14 |
| 38 |  Singapore (SIN) |
7 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| 39 |  Belgium (BEL) |
6 | 16 | 15 | 37 |
| 40 |  Azerbaijan (AZE) |
5 | 8 | 3 | 16 |
| 41 |  Jamaica (JAM) |
5 | 6 | 3 | 14 |
| 42 |  Colombia (COL) |
4 | 14 | 9 | 27 |
| 43 |  Switzerland (SUI) |
3 | 10 | 8 | 21 |
| 44 |  Yugoslavia (YUG) |
3 | 5 | 9 | 17 |
| 45 |  Cyprus (CYP) |
3 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| 46 |  Romania (ROM) |
3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 47 |  Estonia (EST) |
2 | 5 | 2 | 9 |
| 48 |  Uzbekistan (UZB) |
2 | 4 | 9 | 15 |
| 49 |  Slovakia (SVK) |
2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 50 |  Peru (PER) |
2 | 1 | 3 | 6 |
| 51 |  Turkey (TUR) |
2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
| 52 |  Faroe Islands (FRO) |
1 | 7 | 5 | 13 |
| 53 |  Egypt (EGY) |
1 | 3 | 6 | 10 |
| 54 |  Thailand (THA) |
1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| 55 |  Chile (CHI) |
1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| 56 |  Cuba (CUB) |
1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 57 |  Luxembourg (LUX) |
1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 58 |  Hong Kong (HKG) |
1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| 59 |  Kazakhstan (KAZ) |
1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 60 | Independent Paralympic Participants (IPP) |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 61 |  India (IND) |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 Kenya (KEN) |
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 63 |  Soviet Union (URS) |
0 | 11 | 9 | 20 |
| 64 |  Portugal (POR) |
0 | 3 | 7 | 10 |
| 65 |  Zimbabwe (ZIM) |
0 | 2 | 3 | 5 |
| 66 |  Uruguay (URU) |
0 | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| 67 |  Kuwait (KUW) |
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 68 |  Czechoslovakia (TCH) |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 Lithuania (LTU) |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 70 |  Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Bulgaria (BUL) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 Vietnam (VIE) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 73 |  Croatia (CRO) |
0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| 74 |  Slovenia (SLO) |
0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 75 |  Bahamas (BAH) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Morocco (MAR) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Trinidad and Tobago (TTO) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (77 entries) | 2,644 | 2,514 | 2,445 | 7,603 | |
Top Paralympic Swimmers
This table highlights some of the most successful Paralympic swimmers who have won many medals. The information is up to the 2016 Paralympics.
| Athlete | Nation | Years Active | Class(es) | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trischa Zorn | United States |
1980 - 2004 | B1, B2, B3 | 41 | 9 | 4 | 54 |
| Béatrice Hess | France |
1984 - 2004 | S5 | 20 | 5 | 0 | 25 |
| Michael Edgson | Canada |
1984 - 1992 | B3 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
| Jessica Long | United States |
2004 - | S8, SB7, SM8 | 16 | 8 | 5 | 29 |
| Mike Kenny | Great Britain |
1976 - 1988 | 1A, 1C | 16 | 2 | 0 | 18 |
| Ihar Boki | Belarus |
2012 - | S13, SB13, SM13 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 18 |
| Mayumi Narita | Japan |
1996 - 2004 | SM4, S4, SB3, 20pts | 15 | 3 | 2 | 20 |
| Daniel Dias | Brazil |
2008 - 2016 | S5 | 14 | 7 | 6 | 27 |
| Erin Popovich | United States |
2000 - 2008 | S6, S7 | 14 | 5 | 0 | 19 |
| Matthew Cowdrey | Australia |
2004 - 2012 | S9 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 23 |
| Erling Trondsen | Norway |
1976 - 1992 | C1, A3, L4, S8, SM8 | 13 | 6 | 1 | 20 |
| Claudia Hengst | West Germany / Germany |
1988 - 2004 | L6, SM10 | 13 | 4 | 8 | 25 |
| Natalie du Toit | South Africa |
2004 - 2012 | S9 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 15 |
| John Morgan | United States |
1984 - 1992 | B1, B2 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 15 |
| Uri Bergman | Israel |
1976 - 1988 | 6 | 12 | 1 | 2 | 15 |
| Sophie Pascoe | New Zealand |
2008 - | S10, SB9, SM10, S9, SM9 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 19 |
| David Roberts | Great Britain |
2000 - 2008 | S7 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 16 |
| Joseph Wengier | Israel |
1972 - 1988 | ? | 10 | 4 | 5 | 19 |
| Magdalena Tjernberg | Sweden |
1984 - 1988 | B1 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
| Elizabeth Scott | United States |
1992 - 2000 | B3? | 10 | 2 | 5 | 17 |
| Marijke Ruiter | Netherlands |
1972 - 1976 | 5 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Christopher Holmes | Great Britain |
1988 - 2000 | S12? | 9 | 5 | 1 | 15 |
| Priya Cooper | Australia |
1992 - 2000 | S8 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 16 |
| Jacqueline Freney | Australia |
2008 - 2012 | SM7, S7, S8, 34pts | 8 | 0 | 3 | 11 |
| Stephanie Dixon | Canada |
2000 - 2008 | S9 | 7 | 8 | 2 | 17 |
| Siobhan Paton | Australia |
2000 | S14 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
See also
In Spanish: Natación en los Juegos Paralímpicos para niños
- Swimming at the Summer Olympics
- World Para Swimming Championships
