World Para Swimming Announces Inaugural World Series Circuit

rebecca-meyers-paralympic-trials
Team USA Paralympian Becca Meyers at the 2016 Paralympic Swimming Trials. Photo Courtesy: Kevin McCarthy

World Para Swimming announced yesterday that a new World Series of swimming will be introduced in 2017 giving Paralympic athletes the chance to compete in a dedicated circuit for the first time in history.

The circuit, referred to as the World Para Swimming World Series, will begin in March with a stop in Copenhagen, Denmark before moving on to Sao Paulo, Brazil; Sheffield, Great Britain; Indianapolis, USA; and concluding in Berlin, Germany.

Ryan Montgomery, Summer Sports Director for the IPC, noted,

At Rio 2016 Para swimming was one of the most talked about and well attended sports and we are confident that building a World Series will bring benefits for everyone with an interest in the sport. As well as offering fans and the media more opportunities to follow the world’s best athletes, it also allows us to enhance Para swimming in other areas such as classification, competition management, education and research at each event location. 

The move marks a major development for Para swimming with aims to continually develop the sport throughout the next quadrennial and will act as a “stepping stone” moving towards World and Regional Championships.

Montgomery, added,

All athlete’s results at each World Series edition will be calculated using a standardized points system via an online virtual competition platform. This will ensure that the overall World Para Swimming World Series winner will be the best performing athlete over the duration of the series, meaning that every performance counts. 

Becca Meyers of Team USA is one of many Para athletes expected to compete in the new World Series, exclaiming,

As the Paralympic Movement gains momentum around the world, I am very excited that Indianapolis will be hosting one of the stops on the World Series. What an amazing opportunity it will be to bring awareness of Para swimming to the United States! I am looking forward to being a part of this series and to build on my success from Rio while having more opportunities to compete against other international athletes. 

Competition Schedule: 

  • Copenhagen 2017 World Para Swimming World Series, March 11-12
  • Sao Paulo 2017 World Para Swimming World Series, April 20-22
  • Sheffield 2017 World Para Swimming World Series, April 27-30
  • Indianapolis 2017 World Para Swimming World Series, June 9-11
  • Berlin 2017 World Para Swimming World Series, 6-9 July

The inaugural World Series will be a build-up to the 2017 World Para Swimming Championships in Mexico City, running from September 30, 2017-October 6, 2017.

Read more information on the World Para Swimming World Series at Paralympic.org and Team USA

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