Next to camping and hiking, swimming is a favorite summer activity of mine. I can spend hours in the water and it doesn't matter if it is a river, lake, ocean or pool. It isn't so much the act of being in the water that I love so much, it is going under water and feeling everything. You can feel the pounding of your heart or the splashing of someone else nearby. I like that I can lose one of my senses and see how it feels. If only I could breathe underwater. This obsession with being underwater made me curious about how deaf people swim competitively. Since they have lost their ability to hear their other senses quickly sharpen. Sight, smell, and touch become vital. Do they need to feel a buzzer so that they have equal starting time? What signals are necessary? What adjustments need to be made?
I found out that deaf swimmers need to have a strobe light visible to them as the indication that the race has started and need visual feedback from their coaches for the best understanding of the tasks necessary to improve their abilities (Love, Joanne). Deaf swimmers also need a coach who is willing to spend time with them and learn ASL personally. A study was done to show that the use of ASL interpreters was the most common between a coach and their deaf athlete but when a coach took the time to communicate one-on-one with their athlete, the relationship between them was stronger and the athlete's attitude and performance increased (Rochon, Wendy, Feinstein & Soukup). I did not find any specific signals used by coaches but I am sure each is different and specific to the needs of the athlete. In the end, deaf swimmers do not need a lot of special adjustments. According to the Deaflympics, they just need all the verbal cues changed to visual which doesn't change the sport of swimming itself. There are no "special" rules for deaf swimming competitions (Deaf Swimmer).
One deaf swimmer caught my eye while doing my research. It did not say what signals he uses or if he has any specific adjustments, other than the visual cues, but his story inspired me. Kristoffer Lauderbuagh, a freshman at Gallaudet University, was selected to compete at the World Deaf Swimming Championships in Taipei in 2007 and did very well in his events. At a yound age he went through his share of hardships but overcame each one and has been competing since he was 10 years old. Now a member of the Gallaudet Aqua Bison, he and his teammates have broken 5 of the all time records at Gallaudet! Kris is a member of the USA Swimming, USA Deaf Sports Federation, and United States Deaf Swimming. Kris is still attending Gallaudet and hopes to compete in the 2012 Olympics. He has achieved so much through swimming and I just find it fun.
ASl sign for SWIM:
http://asluniversity.com/asl101/pages-signs/s/swim.htm
Chelsea Cornwell
Sources
Love, Joanne. "Swimmer with a Disability-A Brief Guide for Coaches"
http://www.asctav.com.au/documents/SWD_Coaches_Guide_Joanne_Love_Apr2006.pdf
Rochon, Wendy, Feinstein & Soukup. Oct 27, 2006. "Effectiveness of American Sign Language in Coaches Athletes who are Deaf". http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICDocs/data/ericdocs2sql/content_storage_01/0000019b/80/1b/f2/7b.pdf
Deaf Swimmer: World Championships Taipei Tiawan 2007. "Local Ohio Teen front runner for Deaflympic Selection!". 2007.
http://www.freewebs.com/usdsdeafswimmer/
