Is the visual impairment origin a performance factor? Analysis of international-level para swimmers and para athletes

Abstract : The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of congenital and acquired visual impairments on the 21 international performance of Para swimmers and Para track and field athletes. We collected results from 22 visually impaired Para athletes competing in Para swimming or Para athletic events at all IPC-labelled 23 competitions between 2009 and 2019. The dataset contained 20689 events results. Impairment origin was 24 collected from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) website. We separated impairment origin into 25 two groups to distinguish those with a congenital impairment from those with an acquired impairment. In 26 visual impairment sport classes (11-12-13), the performance level and the age performance relationship were 27 investigated according to the impairment origin. In classes 11 and 12, peak performance was achieved earlier 28 by male and female swimmers with a congenital impairment compared with those who had an acquired 29 impairment (p < 0.05). No differences were present in class 13 or in any class in Para athletics (p > 0.05). A 30 similar performance level was observed among the two sport disciplines for each class (p > 0.05). This study 31 demonstrated that impairment origin can influence the performance pathway among visually impaired 32 swimmers.