The rules on Down's syndrome swimmers at the Paralympics must change, according to Swimming coach Lee Portingale.
Portingale coaches Britain's triple world champion Mark Evens, who won his world titles at the Down Syndrome International Swimming Organisation. At present there is no designated Paralympic category for swimmers with Down's syndrome, meaning they have to compete as intellectual disadvantaged athletes. This disregards their physical disabilities and Portingale called for the rules to be rectified.
"As a Down's syndrome swimmer he's probably the best swimmer in the world that nobody's ever heard of," said Portingale of Evens, as reported by ITV. "[The rules] should be rectified. Down's syndrome athletes in this country are some of the best in the world, but they never get the chance to compete at the Paralympic stage, they don't get to compete."
Although Down's syndrome athletes are able to compete in the S14 intellectual impairment category at the Paralympics, they are often outmatched by the superior physicality of their opponents.
“Mark obviously is classified as having an intellectual disability and there is a category for swimmers with intellectual disabilities - but anyone with Down's syndrome also has a physical disability," said Evens' mother Julie, as reported by ITV . "Generally, they have small stature, small hands, small feet, [and have] very poor muscle tone in comparison to the general public.
"So actually they don't really fit into a category just for intellectual disabilities. But equally, there isn't one that covers physical disabilities as well. So it's very hard for them to be competitive in the category in which he's placed."
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is currently in the process of a three-year review of the IPC Athlete Classification Code, with any changes made due to be implemented in 2025.
The classification code has long been a source of prolonged debate with one of the most high-profile cases being that of Danielle Brown. Two years after retaining her archery Paralympic gold at London 2012, World Archery classifiers told her a rule change meant she could not defend her title at Rio 2016.
