Scottish Disability Sport (SDS) enjoy a close relationship with Scottish Swimming and continue to work collaboratively to support and develop opportunities for participants with disabilities to get swimming across the country.
Participation opportunities are available to all individuals who would like to swim. The inclusive nature of swimming enables people of all abilities, regardless of experience or background to come together, become connected and get involved.
This week we will be putting a Spotlight on Swimming, our partnership with Scottish Swimming and the inclusive opportunities that are available for people with disabilities. We truly believe that Everyone Can Swim.
Getting Involved in Swimming
Parasport Festivals: Swimming is a mainstay of the SDS Parasport Festivals with many children and young people given a taste of swimming for the first time under the watchful eye of Scottish Swimming staff who are quick to identify and support anyone who is keen to take the sport further. Parasport Festivals have been a key method of engaging school aged young people at grassroots level and supporting them into club activity.
Keep an eye on our Social Media channels for information on upcoming Parasport Festivals.
Learn to Swim & See My Ability – Everyone Can Swim!
Learn to Swim is an inclusive programme that was launched to provide opportunities for young people to become confident, safe and happy swimmers, and to raise standards and achieve consistency in swimming programmes across Scotland.
See My Ability is an inclusive programme that encourages children with a disability to learn to swim. Swimming provides the opportunity to learn a life skill whilst interacting and having fun in a group environment. This should be no different for a child with a disability and where possible your child will be included in a class with their peers.
Make sure you watch this inspiring video:
More information can be found on the Learn to Swim website.
Find a Swimming Club
There are many inclusive opportunities to swim across the country and you can use the Scottish Swimming Club Finder to find an opportunity near you here:
SDS can also support and advise you if you would like to get involved in swimming, where we can work in partnership with Scottish Swimming to find an appropriate and inclusive opportunity for you.
Contact: admin@scottishdisabilitysport.com or call 0131 317 1130 and we’ll be happy to help.
Leading Performers
Everyone can swim, and these leading performers all started off somewhere – could this be you?
Toni Shaw
Paralympian Toni Shaw came through the Learn to Swim programme at the age of 8, where she soon developed a talent for swimming where she joined Cults Otters before progressing through the pathway to the University of Aberdeen Performance Swim Club. Her classification is S9 and her favoured events being the 400m Free, 100m Free & 100m Fly.
By the age of 14 Toni held 14 Scottish national swimming records where she was then selected to compete at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, and in 2019 she was to set a new World Record time in the S9 200m butterfly at the Para-swimming World Series in Berlin in 2019 when she was just 15 years old. Following this she won 6 medals at the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships, taking gold in both the 4x100m medley relay. and 4x100m freestyle relay
Toni was then selected to represent Team GB at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo, where she medalled in her first games taking bronze in the 400m freestyle event, setting a new PB and Scottish record in the process.
Stephen Clegg
Stephen comes from a family of Paralympic athletes, with both older sister Libby and brother James winning medals for ParalympicsGB at London 2012 in athletics and swimming.
Stephen started swimming in 2014 and quickly took to the sport, breaking through to make his major debut at the 2016 IPC Swimming European Championships in Funchal, Portugal, where he made three finals and set a new personal best in the 400m freestyle S13.
He made his Paralympic debut at Rio 2016 where he recorded his best result in the final of the 100m backstroke S12, finishing in 5th place.
At the 2018 European Para Swimming Championships in Dublin, Ireland, Stephen won three bronze medals and set two new British records.
In 2019 Stephen claimed his maiden global title with a silver medal in the S12 100m butterfly final.
Stephen represented Team GB at the Paralympic Games for the second time in Tokyo, where he got on the podium 3 times with 1 silver and 2 bronze medals.
Scott Quin
Since making his international debut at the 2011 IPC Swimming European Championships in Berlin, Scott has continued to demonstrate his potential by producing consistent results in his favourite event, the 100m breaststroke SB14.
He won silver medals in that event at the 2014 European and 2015 World Championships, before repeating that success in Rio in 2016 where he took the silver medal in his first Paralympic Games.
Following his first Games, Scott once again claimed silver in his favoured event at a home World Championships in London in 2019.
At the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, he added to his Paralympic medal tally with a bronze medal, once again in the 100m breaststroke.
Coaching, Education and Training Opportunities
Scottish Swimming offer plenty of Coaching, Education and Learning opportunities for those who would like to inspire the next generation of swimmers in Scotland.
You can find details of all courses and qualifications and how to become a coach here.
Look out for more Spotlight on Swimming content this week on our website and social media channels!
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