The competition was due to take place from August 29 to September 2 in Santiago del Estero in Argentina.

It would have been the first regional event of its kind in the Americas.

Due to low entry numbers however, the Argentina Federation for Sports for People with Intellectual Impairments (FADDIM) has decided they cannot financially support the event. 

"We are very disappointed to have to cancel Santiago del Estero 2018 as it would have been a major milestone in the development of swimming for athletes with intellectual impairments,"  INAS Swimming Committee chair Dave Harman said. 

"However, we do understand the difficult position that the LOC found themselves in.

"A certain number of athletes and teams are required to make any competition financially viable.

"Unfortunately in this case with just over two months to go, we did not have enough for the event to go ahead."

INAS have, however, reiterated their commitment to expanding the number of competitions, claiming they are now looking at where they can hold future events in the Americas and elsewhere.

"I encourage countries to consider investing in the future so that we can build the level of high performance swimming for the benefit of all athletes," said Harman.

The World Health Organization defines an intellectual disability as "a significantly reduced ability to understand new or complex information and to learn and apply new skills".

Athletes wishing to compete in the intellectual impairment sport classes much have an IQ at or below 75 and significant limitations in adaptive behaviour.

They must also have had the disability arise before the age of 18.