Wando-gun, Key Points to Watch in Swimming at the Jeonnam Disabled Sports Festival

22 Si-Gun Counties, Over 40 Athletes Participating

[Wando＝Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Kyung-pil] The ‘31st Jeollanam-do Disabled Sports Festival,’ a sports festival for the unity of 2 million Jeonnam residents, will be held in Wando-gun for three days from May 24 to 26.

According to the county on the 10th, the organizing committee of the 31st Jeollanam-do Disabled Sports Festival is introducing the rules and viewing points of each event every week so that spectators can enjoy the games more interestingly.

The venue of the swimming competition for the 31st Jeonnam Disabled Sports Festival at Wando Swimming Pool
[Photo by Wando-gun]

The event to be introduced this time is ‘swimming.’ Disabled swimming adjusts the general swimming competition rules to suit disabled athletes. Regarding the competition regulations, in freestyle, butterfly, breaststroke, and individual medley events, the start must be a dive.

However, athletes who find it difficult to balance on the starting block may receive assistance from an aide, and athletes with lower limb disabilities start from a sitting position.

After the referee’s signal ‘take your marks,’ athletes must take a position with one foot forward on the starting block and must not move until the start signal is given.

However, visually impaired athletes are allowed to take their positions in response to the chief referee’s long whistle before the ‘take your marks’ signal.

Also, visually impaired athletes who are completely blind, classified as S11, must have a tapper.

The tapper lightly taps the athlete about twice to notify the start of the race and informs the athlete of their position before reaching the finish line or turning point. Usually, the team’s coach or manager serves as the tapper.

The swimming competition of the 31st Jeonnam Disabled Sports Festival will be held on May 25 at the Wando Swimming Pool, with about 40 athletes from 22 cities and counties participating. The competition will be divided into men’s and women’s divisions, and all rankings will be determined by race times without preliminary rounds.

The swimming events at the Jeonnam Disabled Sports Festival include freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, and butterfly, and are divided into nine classes according to disability type.

Each city or county can register up to two athletes per event, and each athlete can register for up to two events.

Eligibility requires completing athlete registration within the designated period, and athletes or officials registered in other cities or provinces are restricted from participating.

At the 30th competition in 2022, in eight men’s freestyle events, Suncheon, Jangheung, and Yeonggwang each won two gold medals, while Mokpo and Jindo each won one gold medal. In two men’s backstroke events, Suncheon won both gold medals.

Women’s events were held as non-official events due to insufficient participants.

In the 31st competition, the viewing points are how many gold medals the traditional powerhouse Suncheon will win and how many medals Yeosu, which has a deeper athlete pool compared to other cities and counties, will secure.

Most cities and counties, including the host Wando-gun, have very thin swimming athlete pools, but efforts are being made to nurture athletes among registered disabled persons, so a fiercer medal competition among cities and counties is expected at the 31st competition.

Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Kyung-pil ckp6737@asiae.co.kr