The International Paralympic Committee has announced the event schedules for the 2015 World Championships and 2016 Summer Olympics. Rio will feature 152 swimming medal events: four more than there were in London, and in total there 80 men’s events, 71 women’s events, and a 4×50 mixed relay.
This means that while the IOC has not affirmed one-way-or-the-other on the inclusion of new events in the Olympics, including mixed relays, the 2016 Paralympics, at least, will have them.
Though the total numbers of events have grown by four, there are other events that were cut.
Among the new events are the addition of an S1 100 backstroke event on the men’s side. There was only a single S1 event at the 2012 Paralympics: the 50 back.
After a relatively successful run at the 2012 Summer Paralympics and 2013 World Championships, their reintroduction to the sport at that level, the S14 class (swimmers with an intellectual impairment) has gotten the addition of men’s and women’s 200 IM’s.
In total, 16 events were added and 12 were dropped. Among those dropped include the S2 50 and 100 freestyles for men, both won by China’s Yang Yang, and the 100 butterflies in both men’s and women’s S12 classifications.
“Developing both programmes was based on similar principles to London 2012 and involved further input from a working group of National Paralympic Committee representatives and the Sport Technical Committee,” said Jane Blaine, the IPC Swimming Technical Committee chair. “We are delighted to add more events for women and athletes with high support needs. The Glasgow and Rio programmes provide a greater balance of events for class and gender than any previous competition.”
In developing the Glasgow and Rio programmes, IPC Swimming analysed the numbers of athletes, regions and countries participating in each event.
Earlier this year, IPC Swimming announced that the 2015 World Championships would take place at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre in Glasgow, the same competition pool as will be used for the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Rio 2016 and Glasgow 2015 swimming events
* denotes new event not included at London 2012
Male
S1 – 50m backstroke, 100m backstroke*
S2 – 200m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 100m backstroke* and 50m breaststroke
S3 – 50m freestyle*, 100m freestyle*, 200m freestyle*, 50m backstroke, 50m breaststroke and 150m individual medley
S4 – 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 150m individual medley
S5 – 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 50m butterfly
S6 – 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 50m butterfly, 200m individual medley
S7 – 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 50m butterfly, 200m individual medley
S8 – 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 100m butterfly, 200m individual medley
S9 – 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 100m butterfly, 200m individual medley
S10 – 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 100m butterfly, 200m individual medley
S11 – 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 100m butterfly, 200m individual medley
S12 – 50m freestyle, 100m backstroke,
S13 – 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 100m butterfly, 200m individual medley
S14 – 200m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 200m individual medley*
Relay – 4x100m freestyle 34 points and 4x100m medley relay 34 points
Female
S2 – 50m backstroke, 100m backstroke*
S3 – 100m freestyle, 50m backstroke*, 50m breaststroke*
S4 – 50m freestyle*, 50m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 150m individual medley*
S5 – 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 50m backstroke*, 100m breaststroke, 50m butterfly, 200m individual medley
S6 – 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 50m butterfly, 200m individual medley
S7 – 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 50m butterfly, 200m individual medley
S8 – 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 100m butterfly, 200m individual medley
S9 – 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 100m butterfly, 200m individual medley
S10 – 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m butterfly, 200m individual medley
S11 – 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 200m individual medley
S12 – 50m freestyle, 100m backstroke
S13 – 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle*, 100m backstroke*, 100m breaststroke, 100m butterfly*, 200m individual medley
S14 – 200m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke, 200m individual medley*
Relays – 4x100m freestyle 34 points and 4x100m medley 34 points
Mixed
Relay – 4x50m freestyle 20 points*