The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the disabled competitive swimming classification. A secondary purpose of this study was to identify the gender related difference between swimming events and classifications. The data from the NNAA swimming records from 1981 through 1989 with the exception of 1983 were statistically analyzed. ANOVA statistical procedures indicated significant (P < 0.01) difference between classification and gender for both tetraplegic and paraplegic swimming records. The results of this study indicate that the NNAA classification system is a valid and reliable classification system.