Disability

If you are serious about your swimming and want to compete then you’ll need to be part of a mainstream club. 

Getting involved with a mainstream club like Putteridge SC can give you the opportunity to compete in disability-specific events plus you’ll get the support of our coaches to guide your development.

Swimming is an inclusive sport and this means that ensuring that both able-bodied and swimmers with a disability have access to the same opportunities to participate. Whatever a person’s ability, every club, pool operator and swimming teacher wants to provide the best opportunities for swimmers and this is what we ensure at Putteridge swimming club. 

Swimming is a favorite sport of many disabled children and adults and we want to help you inspire you as individuals to join in with the fun in the pool and take that next step in joining a club. We endeavor to capture your imagination, challenge your perceptions, help you develop your skills and talent to make you a better swimmer.

We endeavor:

  • To encourage wider participation 

  • To make the most of the increased interest and opportunities generated by the Paralympic Games

  • To provide greater opportunities for the disabled community to improve their swimming ability and reach their potential

British swimming ‘Swimming is a fantastic activity for people with disabilities or special needs, whatever their age.’

Paralympic medallist and world champion swimmer Matthew Whorwood helps explain why:

‘Swimming is great because it’s non-impact and a good way to get fit without risking injury. Also, once you’re in the pool you’re the same as everyone else, any physical disabilities are irrelevant.’

Within our club I have had the pleasure of coaching Claire Warne. I have known Claire for many years but have had the pleasure of coaching Claire as she made the transition from main stream to masters. Claire is an absolute Inspiration to any swimmer able bodied or disabled, her commitment, dedication and training ethic is second to none and she reached the highest levels of international disability competition. Claire has cerebral Palsy and has won world championship bronze in 200im and has held a number of British, European and world records in her classification. Along with Claire we coach another disability swimmer Jordan who also has Cerebral Palsy who again gives everything in training to achieve her goals. At the age of 13 she has a similar career to Claire ahead of her. 

Within our mainstream squad we have a number of children on the Autistic Spectrum. Through our wish to get the best for these children we have set out to fund and stage a seminar to assist our coaches and parents to learn about the spectrum and the best teaching for these children. Also after many months work, we put a project together to give an opportunity to children on the spectrum. highly oversubscribed we took 15 children and worked with them over 6 weeks. Hugely successful with all the children wishing to continue, with us working with partners in the community to ensure that this is able to go forward. The four Putteridge SC coaches who ran the sessions found this one of the most rewarding opportunities they have had. This has now progressed and developed into a SATELLITE CLUB working with Active Luton teaching Disabled Children with a wide variety of disabilities to swim.

‘It helped my boy to drain some of his extra energy giving him peaceful sleep whenever he had a swimming lesson. Before it was a struggle to bathe him as he was quite afraid of the water but now he enjoys bathing as much as swimming.

That comment makes everything worthwhile, if you, or you child has a disability and are looking for a pathway then please contact us and we will try and help you.

Contact us at [email protected]

 

More information can be found at this link to Swim Englands webite https://www.swimming.org/swimengland/useful-links-inclusion/