Swimming

Enhance your abilities as you feel the freedom of being in the water! Adaptive swimming emphasizes core strength, body awareness, endurance, and water safety.

We begin with basic full-body movement and letting the athlete get comfortable with their own abilities in the water. DASA swimmers typically do not use flotation devices which helps with developing greater self-awareness of their body and their abilities in the water. As a disabled swimmer progresses towards independence in their swim strokes, they are given the opportunity to move up to the DASA Swim Team or train for the Paralympics.

The DASA Swim Team

To be on the Competitive Swim Team, a swimmer must be able to swim at least a 25-meter length of the pool independently and must be able to swim more than 10 laps in a one-hour practice session of any stroke independently, without stopping. All ages are welcome!

Both male and female competitors are classified on their functional ability to perform each stroke, test their skills in freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke, and medley events.

Athletes are Classified/evaluated for their strength and coordination and classified in Ability-like classes. This evens the playing field and ensures the most successful competition.

The team will compete in several competitions throughout the season. Swim season is October through July.

Exhibitions & Competitions

Local St. Louis & Columbia Area

There are many Team Competitions and Exhibition games around the St. Louis and Columbia areas. Keep an eye on our calendar for dates, times, and locations.

Gateway Games

DASA hosts a large competition every year in May. The Gateway Games offers competition for track and field, archery, boccia, paralympic powerlifting, and swimming. Keep an eye on our calendar for dates, times, and locations.

Junior Nationals

Athletes with spinal cord injuries, cerebral palsy, visual impairments, amputations, limb deficiencies, and other congenital anomalies from all over the United States and several foreign countries, ages 7-21 years, compete in Olympic-style events including archery, powerlifting, swimming, table tennis, and track and field.

Additionally, exhibition sports are often offered at Junior Nationals that extend the variety of sports offered. Athletes must qualify for Junior Nationals.

You can also train for the USA Paralympic Swim Team!

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, cognitive impairment, and Les Autres.

If you or your athlete is interested in trying out for the DASA swim team, please contact us today!

Participate in Adaptive Swimming at DASA

Participating in DASA’s adaptive swimming and competitive team sports is a wonderful way to socialize, build comradery, become physically fit, gain independence, develop self-confidence, and achieve great things. Please join us this season!

To get started, please fill out the New Athlete Form first, then fill out the registration form for the sport you’d like to play, and be sure to check out our calendar for the latest information. If you need assistance, contact us today. 636-477-0716

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