Competition for Athletes with a Disability
General
Water Ski & Wakeboard Canada has embarked on increased support for athletes with a disability. To
help accomplish that we have adopted the IWSF Rules for Disabled Skiing as our National Rules
and have, in 2004, launched the first National Championship for Disabled Water Skiers!
The tournament rule book can be found here. In
addition, a competition handbook is
also available.
WSWC seeks athletes who may interested in representing Canada at the World Disabled
Championships. If you believe you have the potential, and are interested, please check the
Team Selection Criteria.
Category Definitions for Athletes
This is taken from the Rule Book for convenience:
Categories
All skiers shall be divided into the following categories:
- arm disabilities (see D.1.02):
- category A;
- leg amputees (see D.1.03):
- category L,
- category LP;
- multiple plegics and double leg amputees (see D.1.04):
- category MP1,
- category MP2,
- category MP3;
- vision impaired (see D.1.05):
- category V1,
- category V2/3;
- arm and leg disabilities (see D.1.06):
- category A/L1,
- category A/L2.
There are further categories called Demonstration categories which are described in the
Rule Book. A skier who would be eligible for more than one category is only allowed
to participate in a single category in each event and has to ski in the same
category in all events in which he participates.
Category A
Skiers with any arm disability preventing him or her from using the disabled limb
normally while skiing is eligible for category A. In any event, the disabled upper
limb cannot come in contact, directly or indirectly, with the tow handle or the tow
line while the skier is in the course. If this happens, it will have the same c
onsequences as if a fall had occurred at that moment.
Categories L and LP
Skiers eligible for categories L and LP are defined as follows:
· L: leg amputees without prosthesis.
· LP: leg amputees with prosthesis.
Categories MP1, MP2 and MP3
Multiple plegics and double leg amputees shall be classified in categories MP1, MP2 and MP3 as defined in the MP Classification section of the Competition Handbook Water Ski for the Disabled. General guidelines are as follows :
· MP1: Athletes unable to utilise the majority of their trunk musculature and rise from their knees without arm support. They lack full use of their upper extremities. Typically, they do not have adequate grip strength and may utilise their forearms or wrists to hold the handle.
· MP2: Athletes able to use their upper trunk muscles and raise their body partially from their knees in the skiing position. Typically, they have full use of their upper extremities.
· MP3: Athletes with good use of the majority of their trunk muscles, possibly including abdominals. Typically, they are able to raise the trunk from their knees in the skiing position and have full use of their upper extremities.
Categories V1, V2, V3 and V2/3
Vision impaired skiers shall be classified as follows, using the best eye with the
best possible correction:
· V1: No light perception at all in either eye, up to light perception but inability to recognize the shape of a hand at any distance or in any direction.
· V2: From ability to recognize the shape of a hand up to a visual acuity of 2/60 (20/600) and/or a visual field of less than five degrees.
· V3: From a visual acuity of 2/60 (20/600) up to a visual acuity of 6/60 (20/200) and/or a visual field of more than five degrees and less than twenty degrees.
Skiers classified as V2 and V3 will always ski in one single category named V2/3.
Categories A/L
Skiers with significant arm and leg impairment, arm and leg amputation, and
hemiplegia are eligible for this category which may also include skiers with cerebral
palsy and other disabilities/conditions. In any event, the disabled upper limb cannot
come in contact, directly or indirectly, with the tow handle or the tow line while
the skier is in the course. If this happens, it will have the same consequences as if a fall had occurred at that moment.
Copyright © 2004 WSWC
Dec 21, 2004
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