The review will aim to help strengthen compliance with the IPC’s revised Classification Code, approved by its General Assembly in November 2015.

It is claimed it will expand on research already undertaken in previous years and will involve institutions and experts from around the world.

Last year, the IPC stated its belief that alleged intentional misrepresentation (IM) during the classification evaluation process of athletes "is in grave danger of undermining the credibility" of Para-swimming and "overshadowing the performances" of the sport’s athletes.

An email seen by insidethegames, sent from IPC chief executive Xavier Gonzalez to National Paralympic Committee and National Federation Presidents, outlined the threat which IM poses to the sport, as well as the steps being taken to tackle what is described as a "serious problem".

Sent on August 3, the date of the email is sandwiched between the completion of the IPC Swimming World Championships on July 19, and the start of the swimming events at the 2015 Parapan American Games in Toronto on August 8.

Twenty-eight days later, on August 31, IPC Swimming published an updated version of its classification rules and regulations, following an "extensive review process" instigated in 2013.

The new version came into effect from September 1, having been amended in response to requests from athletes and the countries they represent to provide clarity on the previous wording, and to further ensure the standardised application of the rules by IPC Swimming classifiers.

"We have been building towards this review for quite some time and have identified a series of steps that need to be taken in order to strengthen the current classification system," said Gonzalez.

"The existing and new research projects will now be carried forward by a project management group featuring athletes, coaches, classifiers and researchers.

"I hope this review will improve the classification system for all involved in the sport, while addressing some of the questions some people have regarding the existing system.

"To make the review successful we also need the help of National Paralympic Committees and National Federations with the participation of athletes in research, financial contributions to the research projects and value in kind contributions, such as venues for data collection.

"We want to be open and transparent about the steps that we are taking all along the way, and will provide regular updates not just to the swimming community and the IPC membership, but also to fans and the media as well."

The review process is due to begin with the finalisation of contracts with research institutions, as well as the first meeting of the project management group and interviews with experts, athletes and coaches to understand the strengths and weaknesses of the current system.

The process is expected to be completed by April 2016.

The first research area will focus on drag, with other areas such as range of movement, propulsion and co-ordination within physical impairment classifications (S1-S10) following.

These were said to have been identified as crucial elements of the classification system by experts in 2013.

For visual impairment (S11-S13), research is ongoing at the Free University of Amsterdam on the application of a sport-specific classification system.

This has so far included observation and testing at the 2014 IPC Swimming European Championships in Eindhoven, the 2014 Asian Para-Games in Incheon and the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow.

The results of these pieces of research and any changes they may have on the classification system are set to be announced as the projects conclude.

No changes to the current classification system will be made before Rio 2016. 

The project management group, details of which can be found here, are due to announce further focus areas as they are determined.