The 2016 Paralympic Games are from September 7th through September 18th in Rio De Jainero, Brazil. The word ''para'' in the word Paralympic means parallel, not paraplegic. I am a parathlete swimmer, and I have been doing it for five years.
I've traveled all over the country and to Canada for swim meets these past five years. I love going to these meets and meeting amazing people who have even more amazing stories of perseverance, triumph and courage. I encourage you to watch the Paralympics starting on September 7th, and learn more about these elite athletes that will be representing the red, white and blue once again in Rio!
The games feature a diverse group of athletes. There is a classification system that the Paralympics use to put athletes in a fair playing field. The swimming classifications are divided into three separate categories: Athletes who have physical disabilities are classed in the classes S1-S10 (S1 is for athletes with the most severe disabilities, S10 is for athletes with minimal disabilities); Athletes who have visual impairments are classed in the classes S11-S13; and Athletes who have intellectual disabilities are classified S14.
Even though the Paralympics are parallel to the Olympics, the Paralympics receive significantly less coverage than the Olympics. NBC is having just 66 hours of coverage this year (which is the most amount of hours they've ever covered the Paralympics). Dailymotion is also streaming more than 650 hours of coverage through paralympic.org.
Get out your patriotic wear and get ready to cheer on Team USA!
