The 2009 IPC Swimming European Championships was an international swimming competition. It was held in Reykjavík, Iceland and ran from 18 to 24 October. Around 650 athletes from 37 different countries attended.[1] Great Britain finished top of the medal tables with 39 golds and 94 medals, both greater than any other country.[2]
The 2009 Championships was the first IPC-run event where intellectual disability athletes were allowed to compete since the 2000 Summer Paralympic controversy.[3] In the 2000 Sydney Games cheating by the Spanish basketball team resulted in the banning of all events for athletes with intellectual disabilities.[3]
The Championship was staged at the Laugardalslaug located in the north of Reykjavík.
Events
Classification
Athletes are allocated a classification for each event based upon their disability to allow fairer competition between athletes of similar ability. The classifications for swimming are:
Classifications run from S1 (severely disabled) to S10 (minimally disabled) for athletes with physical disabilities, and S11 (totally blind) to S13 (legally blind) for visually impaired athletes. Blind athletes must use blackened goggles.