Participation in Lebara's Race the World by British Para-Swimming welcomed entrants from twenty-five countries for a high quality heats programme.
The challenges of restricted access to swimming pools across the home nations have been well noted this year, nevertheless the first of what is intended to be a series of virtual fixtures has proved to be a real success in helping the para-swimming community stay connected through an absence of in venue competition.
In total 72 athletes competed in 191 heat swims from their own home pool environment across the multi-classification programme, featuring 50m and 100m distances in freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke and butterfly disciplines.
Following race analysis and officiating checks, the results have now been released with the top eight participants in each event invited to progress onwards to the showpiece final.
The unique nature of multi-classification racing means that there is an opportunity to see individual world medallists go head to head in the upcoming finals such as Ellie Challis vs Toni Shaw and Stephen Clegg vs Jordan Catchpole - all competing on a level playing field, in this instance through a ‘virtual racing points system’ similar in nature to the British Disability Points System, but catering for all classifications in short course configuration.
Those finals will be premiered in a live stream on British Swimming's Youtube and Facebook channels at 4pm, 16 December 2020.
Speaking of the event Rob Aubry, Head Coach for British Para-Swimming, said:
"We're delighted with the response the event has received in terms of participation from the para-swimming community, and there's no question looking at the results that the standard has been high with several swims scoring more than 1000 points. The upcoming finals that are to be streamed in December provide an exciting way to be showcasing the sport and it's many talented individuals.
"Of course we are hopeful that swimming pools will be open nationally from the 3 December, however the events team will remain in communication with finalists regarding submission options. Additionally the working group is continuing to assess feedback from this round to take forward into further editions of the competition in 2021."
More information about Lebara's Race the World by British Para-Swimming can be found on the event page here, including entry pack and latest participant updates.
Competition dates
- Domestic trial event: 21-23 October (invite only)
- International heats: 3-13 November (Results here)
- International finals: 2-9 December (To be live streamed at 4pm, 16 December 2020)
Make sure to revisit the British Swimming website and follow our social channels (@britishswimming) to stay up to date with the latest announcements.