2023 US PARA SWIMMING NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
- December 15-17, 2023
- Rosen Aquatic & Fitness Center, Orlando, Florida
- Long Course Meters (50 meters)
- Results on Meet Mobile: “2023 National Championships SWI_P”
- Full PDF Results
Two American Records went down on the final night of competition in Orlando, Florida at the US Para Swimming National Championships.
Noah Jaffe swam a 2:08.84 in prelims of the 200 freestyle. That was a new Pan American and American record in the S8. Jaffe also won Swimmer of the Meet honors after accumulating a total of 7,913 points in his swims. Jaffe competed in a total of five events at the meet, the 50, 100, 200, and 400 freestyles as well as the 100 butterfly.
Jaffe’s record broke his own record that he previously shared with Matthew Torres. The old record stood at a 2:12.32. Jaffe holds the 50, 100, and 200 free LCM S8 American Records. Jaffe also won the 100 free on the final night, swimming a 59.58, just off his own record of a 59.15.
“It feels great (to win the overall medal), I had some ups and downs at this meet but I’m happy overall,” said Jaffe. “I think this year was all about building confidence and believing in myself going into Paris so that’s the biggest thing I’m taking away. In training, I’ve been really changing some things up so I’m excited to see what 2024 will bring.”
Also setting an American Record was 13-year-old Chloe Cederholm who swam a 2:40.27 in the S10 200 backstroke, marking her first American Record. That broke the old record of a 2:40.88 that was shared by Mikhaila Rutherford and Tayllor Winnett.
Paralympic Swimming Classifications range from S1 to S14. S1 to S10 are for athletes with physical disabilities, S11 to S13 are for athletes with visual impairments, and S14 is for athletes with intellectual disabilities.
Within each grouping, a lower classification number is generally considered to be a more sever impairment to an athlete’s performance. Athletes have one classification for butterfly, freestyle, and backstroke races (S#), one for breaststroke races (SB#), and one for IM races (SM#). These numbers can be the same but are not necessarily equal, depending on the nature of an athlete’s disability.
Some meets, like the Paralympics, have races separated by classification. In other meets, multi-class scoring is employed, where each swimmer is given a point value using a statistical model to try and evaluate a great swim for their class, and the winner is the swimmer with the highest point value (aka closest, or surpassing, the World Record). This meet is being adjudicated via a multi-class system.
Morgan Stickney had the highest-scoring swim of the day with a 1:10.09 100 freestyle totalling 979 WPS. Stickey set two World Records yesterday, breaking the 800 free during the first part of the 1500 where she ultimately also set a World Record.
Other highlights include:
- University of Northern Iowa swimmer Olivia Chambers swam to a final time of 2:26.19 in the S13 200 IM. Chambers is the American Record holder in the LCM 400 IM.
- American Record holder in the SM6 Ellie Marks won the 200 IM in a 3:03.52. Her record stands at a 2:57.52 from August 2021.
- SM13 American Record holder David Abrahams won the men’s 200 IM in a 2:17.20. His record stands at a 2:12.67 from the Tokyo Olympics.