As a teenager, swimmer Karni Liddell smashed a world record, and was on her way to captaining the Australian squad at the 2000 Sydney Paralympics.
"It was the first time I felt good at something," said Liddell, who lives with a neuromuscular degenerative disease.
Her parents had encouraged her to swim from a young age as a form of rehabilitation, and she excelled. She'd go on to become a dual Paralympic medallist.
But the 44-year-old doesn't believe she'd even make the squad today if she were still that competitive young teen.
She said nowadays, swimmers with more severe impairments didn't get the same support from key organisations as less-disabled athletes, and therefore missed out on big meets like the Australian National Championships.
"All of us were quite disabled in Sydney [at the 2000 Games]," she said.
"I felt so strong and able in our team because we were surrounded by people who use wheelchairs, who had limb deficiencies, people of short stature, paraplegics and quadriplegics, but now we don't see that anymore."
After being contacted by the ABC, Swimming Australia said it did not prioritise athletes with mild disabilities ahead of those with severe impairments.
"There is no basis for this claim," it said in a statement.
But it later conceded there was a problem.
"We are aware there is under representation in lower classes at major international events," the organisation said.
Liddell's arms aren't strong enough to operate a wheelchair, so hers is motorised.
She said people like her were disappearing from the sport – and it was the greater Paralympic movement that was pushing them out.
Equipment, staff costs could discourage high-needs support
Liddell was classified for international competition in the S6 category — one of 10 categories in the physical disability group, where S1 represents the most severely disabled, and S10 the least.
"I always say with classification, we're never going to be exactly equal," Liddell said.
"Even if you have the same disability as a competitor there will be mild differences, which is good. I'd much rather that than have a thousand classes."
However, Liddell has concerns that the more severely disabled swimmers in the lower classifications are being edged out of the Games.
Those swimmers, like Liddell herself, often need to access hoists and support workers.
She said organisers could deem these to be too expensive to take away for camps and competitions.
"If they're going to think I'm high maintenance and it's expensive to take me away, they're not going to take me away," she said.
Currently, 7 per cent of disabled swimmers competing in Australia are classified S1 to S6, with only two classified S1.
Liddell said if there were no more events for severely disabled athletes, we would no longer see people who use wheelchairs, especially power chairs, at the Paralympic Games.
"It's very devastating and disappointing for me," she said.
"The Australian team is full of, as I would call them, mildly disabled people."
However, she said there was a wealth of potential talent who could compete in more severely disabled classes if selectors were willing to look.
"If we don't start finding athletes with severe disabilities that have all four limbs affected now, then our events will be scrapped by Brisbane 2032," Liddell said.
"And I want to see heaps of S6s like me at the Paralympic Games in Brisbane 2032."
Liddell has expressed her interest in working with Swimming Australia to help increase the number of athletes in lower classifications.
"I want people to know that if you have a severe disability … you absolutely can swim, and be strong and be good at sport," she said.
Swimming Australia has confirmed it has met with Liddell, and it's looking to engage her in a role that focuses on lower-classification athletes.
Swimming Australia also said it was "working to ensure we are able to create pathways for [more severely disabled] lower class athletes", and collaborating with talent identification programs to find and support more swimmers in the S1-S6 categories.
Paralympics Australia did not respond to repeated requests for comment, except to say it had not managed high-performance swimming since the 2000 Games. Since then, it has been managed by Swimming Australia.
'The Games for the minimally disabled'
Experts say there is always a concern that athletes across the spectrum of disabilities are not fully represented at the Paralympic games.
"There's been conversations over the years about whether we are shifting towards sort of 'the Games for the minimally disabled'," said University of Queensland researcher Emma Beckman.
Classifications are intended to level the playing field for athletes, and the responsibility for setting them rests with individual international sports federations.
Keeping lower classification events on the program is a genuine way to encourage people to participate in Paralympic sport when they have a moderate to severe impairment, Dr Beckman said.
She said Australia had enjoyed great success at the Paralympics over the years, but it was yet to nail the way it engaged safely with athletes with high needs in Paralympic sport – an area she's currently researching.
She said most resources had gone into developing athletes with minimal impairment, something she expected to change ahead of the 2032 Games in Brisbane.
"The shift back towards athletes with high support needs is a genuine focus of the Paralympic movement in Australia at the moment," Dr Beckman said.
Classification system has multiple issues, athletes say
Meanwhile, athletes in other fields have expressed separate concerns about the way a classification system is functioning
Four Corners spoke to dozens of Para athletes, classifiers and coaches about the way athletes were being classified by a system that some said regularly resulted in athletes with severe disabilities being forced to compete against less disabled athletes.
David Berling is a double above-knee amputee, who is also missing his right bicep and uses a hand-cycle to race. He competes in the 'H5' classification, which is for athletes with good arm and trunk co-ordination, who can't safely use a conventional bike or tricycle.
As he sees it, the current rules and classifications are correct, but in some cases are not being implemented they way they should be.
That puts pressure on more severely disabled people such as complete quadriplegics, who end up leaving the sport because they discover they are not competitive.
"So you've just let a system [that has been] developed for the most disabled people push the most disabled people out of the sports system," he said.
He described seeing quadriplegic cyclists, who pedal with only their shoulder muscles or triceps, competing against athletes who could walk to the podium.
"It's just sad that this is happening across all sports and to multiple disabled individuals around the world," Berling said.
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Elizabeth Wright was a member of the Australian Paralympic swimming team with Karni Liddell.
