Where to watch the Paralympic swimming including who is in action and when

After the most successful Olympic swimming campaign ever for Team GB at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the excitement now turns towards the Paralympic Games.

The opening ceremony will be shown live on Channel 4 from 11.30am to 3.15pm BST on Tuesday 24 August. Ellie Simmonds is set to be one of two flagbearers for the British team.

The swimming action will then begin on Wednesday 25 August and finish on Friday 3 September, with a 25-strong squad ready to compete in Tokyo.

For those wanting to tune in, the Games will be broadcast on Channel 4, More 4 and paralympics.channel4.com.

All of the heats sessions will take place in the morning over in Tokyo, followed by the finals sessions in the evening.

In UK time, this will see the heats get underway from 1am and the finals starting from 9am.

Who is in action and when?

Day one

The English athletes featuring on the opening day will be Jordan Catchpole and Reece Dunn in the Men’s 100m Butterfly, with Jessica-Jane Applegate and Louise Fiddes in the women’s event.

Lyndon Longhorne (SB3) will compete in the 50m Breaststroke followed by Eleanor Robinson (S6) and Zara Mullooly (S10) in their respective 50m Freestyle events as well as S5 200m Freestyle swimmers Suzanna Hext and Tully Kearney.

Day two

The S5 pair will again feature on day two, this time in the Women’s 100m Freestyle and Longhorne will go in the men’s S4 event.

William Perry (SM6) will then make his first Paralympic appearance in the Men’s 200m Individual Medley with the women’s event stacked full of British talent by way of Ellie Simmonds, Grace Harvey and Maisie Summers-Newton.

The Mixed 4x50m Freestyle Relay – 20 Points event will also take place on the second day of action.

Day three

On day three, Hannah Russell (S12) will compete in the Women’s 100m Backstroke with Catchpole, Dunn, Tom Hamer, Applegate and Fiddes all swimming in their respective 200m Freestyle S14 events.

Day four

SB6 swimmer Perry is up next on day four, as he takes on the Men’s 100m Breaststroke.

Both Simmonds and Summers-Newton are set to swim in the women’s breaststroke event with Mullooly (S10) in the 100m Freestyle, Longhorne (SM4) in the 150m Individual Medley and Grace Harvey in the SB5 100m Breaststroke.

The Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Relay – S14 event will also take place on day four.

Day five

At the halfway point of the swimming action, the Women’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay – 34 Points will take place.

The individual races will see Fiddes in the SB14 100m Breaststroke, Ellie Challis in the Women’s S3 50m Backstroke, Hext in the SB4 100m Breaststroke and S13 swimmers Russell and Rebecca Redfern in the 50m Freestyle.

Day six

Hext (S5 50m Backstroke) and Challis (S3 100m Freestyle) will feature again on day six, while Stephanie Millward swims in the Women’s S9 100m Backstroke.

Longhorne will go in the Men’s S4 200m Freestyle before Robinson and Harvey aim to qualify for the Women’s S6 50m Butterfly finals.

Day seven

On the week mark, day seven, Catchpole and Dunn are back in action in the SM14 200m Individual Medley, with Applegate and Fiddes in the women’s event.

In addition, Russell will swim in the S12 100m Freestyle while Challis is set to compete in the SB3 50m Breaststroke and Millward in the S9 100m Freestyle.

Day eight

There will be just three English athletes on display on day eight – Perry in the S6 100m Freestyle, Mullooly in the S10 400m Freestyle and Redfern in the SB13 100m Breaststroke.

Day nine

The penultimate day of swimming action is a busy one, with GB athletes competing across six different events including the Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay – 34 Points.

In the individual events, a trio of Simmonds, Summers-Newton and Harvey will swim in the S6 400m Freestyle while S14 swimmers Catchpole, Dunn and Applegate compete in their respective 100m Backstroke events.

Longhorne and Challis will feature in the S4 50m Freestyle events respectively.

Day ten

The final day of Paralympic swimming will see just Harvey (Women’s S6 100m Backstroke) and Longhorne (Men’s S4 50m Backstroke) competing.

Find out more about classifications

The classifications, such as S14 and S5, are used in para-swimming to ensure a level playing field for competitive athletes.

At major international para-swimming competitions such as at the Paralympics, athletes will only compete against other athletes in the same class.

Swimmers are assigned a classification group based on their degree of ability, with each group indicating a different level of physical, visual, intellectual or hearing impairment. You can learn more about the classifications by clicking here.

In addition to the Channel 4 coverage, you can also keep up with the Paralympic swimming action via swimming.org, and by following the Swim England social media channels.

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