S9 (classification)

S9, SB8, SM9 are disability swimming classifications used for categorizing swimmers based on their level of disability. Swimmers in this class generally have severe weakness in one leg. This class includes a number of different disabilities including people with amputations and cerebral palsy. The classification is governed by the International Paralympic Committee, and competes at the Paralympic Games.

This classification is for swimming. In the classification title, S represents Freestyle, Backstroke and Butterfly strokes. SB means breaststroke. SM means individual medley. Jane Buckley, writing for the Sporting Wheelies, describes the swimmers in this classification as having: "severe weakness in one leg only; Swimmers with very slight coordination problems; Swimmers with one limb loss. Unless there is an underlying medical condition usually all of these athletes will start out of the water." Swimming classifications are on a gradient, with one being the most severely physically impaired to ten having the least amount of physical disability.

This class includes people with several disability types include cerebral palsy and amputations.

ISOD amputee A8 swimmers may be found in this class. S9 amputee swimmers in this class have similar start times to people with legs amputations in S8 to S10 classes. Paralympic S9 swimmers in this class can get water entry distance off the block comparable to Olympic athletes. Compared to able bodied swimmers, swimmers in this class have a shorter stroke length and increased stroke rate. Because their legs are their greatest strength, they modify their entry into the water to take advantage of this.

The nature of a person's amputations in this class can effect their physiology and sports performance. Because they are missing a limb, amputees are more prone to overuse injuries in their remaining limbs. Common problems for intact upper limbs for people in this class include rotator cuffs tearing, shoulder impingement, epicondylitis and peripheral nerve entrapment.

CP7 and CP8 class swimmers are sometimes found in this class. CP7 sportspeople are able to walk, but appear to do so while having a limp as one side of their body is more affected than the other. They may have involuntary muscles spasms on one side of their body. They have fine motor control on their dominant side of the body, which can present as asymmetry when they are in motion. People in this class tend to have energy expenditure similar to people without cerebral palsy.

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