Jessica_long_start_joekusumoto

Photo: Joe Kusumoto

Jessica Long prepares for a race at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece

Swimming for men and women has been a part of the Paralympic program since the first Games in 1960 in Rome, Italy. Today, the races are highly competitive and among the largest and most popular events in the Paralympic Games. Paralympic swimming competition is open to male and female athletes with physical disabilities such as dwarfism, amputation/limb loss, blindness/visual impairment, spinal cord injury/wheelchair-users, cerebral palsy/brain injury/stroke and Les autres.