IPC Swimming committee discusses past, present and future

"I'm very pleased with the work the STC has done in planning for 2015 and in the progress IPC Swimming has made towards executing its strategic plan."

IPC Swimming’s Sport Technical Committee (STC) met between 6-7 October in Berlin, Germany, to discuss progress with the 2013-2016 strategic plan and activities during 2015.

There are six core areas in the plan for swimming - Paralympic Games and World Championships, athlete development, Paralympic brand, funding, organisational capacity and strategic partnerships.

In particular the group, made up of technical officials, classifiers and para-swimming experts reviewed activities around education for officials, broadcast and media coverage, and an innovative research project within classification for visually impaired athletes.

Since 2013 various courses for technical officials and classifiers have been carried out, helping to improve competition standards, as well as a pioneering anti-doping project carried out during the 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships in Montreal, Canada.

Working with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), an outreach booth was set-up which aimed to educate athletes and coaches on doping. Athlete ambassadors were also recruited and an entire day dedicated to raising awareness of anti-doping through various merchandise.

Also discussed during the meeting was how the profile of para-swimming has continued to rise since London 2012 and the increases in broadcast coverage of the sport, shown through the 2014 IPC Swimming European Championships in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.

After the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games the next strategic plan is due for publication and will aim to take the work completed in the past years forward.

The STC is now working on developing an operational plan for 2015, a year which will feature the IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow, Great Britain, from 13-19 July and is expected to attract a record number of athletes.

Jane D. Blaine, Chairperson of the STC said: "I'm very pleased with the work the STC has done in planning for 2015 and in the progress IPC Swimming has made towards executing its strategic plan."

The meeting was held following the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Strategic Gathering which celebrated 25 years since the organisation was established on 22 September, 1989.

As a result, the group had the chance to meet Sam Ramsamy, the IOC’s delegate member to sport for athletes with a disability to talk about IPC Swimming.

A representative of the STC will attend November’s FINA Convention and Extraordinary Congress.