U.S. Paralympics Spring Swim Nationals

Natatorium site of U.S. Paralympics Spring Swim Nationals

Patricia Estrada, PAC's Natatorium Director, is busy these days ensuring the facility's Olympic size pool is ready for the U.S. Paralympics Spring Swimming Nationals 2010 Spring Can-Am, which will take place on campus, March 25-27.

This is the first major event the natatorium is hosting after being out of service for four months due to repairs. The natatorium is a joint use facility between the Alamo Colleges and the City of San Antonio.

San Antonio is the official host of the U.S. Paralympics and is coordinating events with Estrada to ensure a successful event.

According to San Antonio Sports, the Spring Swimming Nationals attract more than 400 participants from eight countries. The participants in these trials have visual or physical disabilities that they overcome to participate in this competition.

The U.S. Paralympics, a division of the U.S. Olympic Committee, is dedicated to becoming the world leader in the Paralympics sports movement and promoting excellence in the lives of people with physical disabilities.

The event being held in the Natatorium is a Long Course competition, and the format of the meet will be preliminary and finals. Events that are not on the program of the Paralympics Games/World Championships will be designated as timed finals only to be conducted during preliminaries.

All preliminary events will be seeded by time (regardless of classification). Finals will be seeded by classification. A swimmer must place in the top eight (8) in their classification during preliminaries to advance to the final.

The Natatorium facilities will be available for training prior to the start of competition on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 23-24, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The actual event begins on Thursday, March 25 and ends Saturday, March 27. Preliminaries begin at 9 a.m. and finals at 5 p.m., each day.

According to the U.S. Paralympics website, since its formation in 2001, U.S. Paralympics has been inspiring Americans to achieve their dreams. Through education, sports programs and partnerships with community organizations, medical facilities and government agencies, U.S. Paralympics is making a difference in the lives of thousands of physically disabled people every day.

Palo Alto College is proud to play a role in the Spring Swimming Nationals.