World Champion Down Syndrome swimmer from Hitchin who can't find a place at the Paralympics

A swimming coach is calling for the rules surrounding Down Syndrome swimmers at the Paralympics to be re-examined.

Lee Portingale from Hitchin Swimming Club coaches triple world champion Mark Evens, who started competing in the pool at 13 years old.

"It’s just freedom" he said. "When I'm in the water, all I think about is doing the perfect technique and my stroke. I don't worry about anything else on my mind.”

Now at 26, Mr Evens has competed in countless swimming competitions at a local, national and international level, holding World Records in three freestyle events.

But his dream is to take part in the Paralympics.

Despite being a world champion, he feels he cannot really compete at a Paralympic level as his coach says there is no classification which quite fits.

“As a Down's Syndrome swimmer he's probably the best swimmer in the world that nobody's ever heard of," said Mr Portingale.

"There's no Paralympic category for them to swim under so they just swim as intellectual disadvantaged swimmers, but that doesn't take into account their physical disabilities.

"So they get no chance to race on that stage.

“It should be rectified. Down's Syndrome athletes in this country are some of the best in the world, but they never get the chance to compete… at the Olympic stage, they don't get to compete.”

Currently those with Down syndrome are able to compete at the Paralympics in the intellectual impairment category (S14).

But that banding is highly competitive, with other swimmers often being physically stronger - and sometimes much taller.

“Mark obviously is classified as having an intellectual disability and there is a category for swimmers with intellectual disabilities - but anyone with Down's Syndrome also has a physical disability," said Mr Evens' mother Julie Evens.

"Generally, they have small stature, small hands, small feet, [and have] very poor muscle tone in comparison to the general public.

"So actually they don't really fit into a category just for intellectual disabilities. But equally, there isn't one that covers physical disabilities as well.

"So it's very hard for them to be competitive in the category in which he's placed.”

It comes as Mr Evens takes part in the British Down Syndrome Swimming Championships in Crawley this weekend.

The inaugural competition is a first for swimmers who are not currently represented in the Paralympics.

In a statement the International Paralympic Committee said that Paralympic classification "was not guided by syndrome-related classification".

It said that the IPC allocated classes based on the "measurable activity limitation" from that impairment, which could result in athletes with different diagnoses within a similar impairment competing against each other.

A three-year review of the IPC Athlete Classification Code was already underway and any changes are likely to be implemented in 2025, a spokesman added.

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