Matthew Cowdrey

Matthew Cowdrey returned home from the 2012 Paralympics in London as Australia’s greatest ever Paralympian.

With 13 gold medals, Matt surpassed Australian runner Tim Sullivan’s previous record of ten, and he now holds in total 23 Paralympic medals. Matt won a medal in every event in London – five gold, two silver and one bronze – to go with his eight medals from Beijing 2008. This included breaking his own world record in the 50m freestyle.

Born with a congenital amputation to his lower left arm, Cowdrey has shown immense strength and courage to succeed and reach incredible heights in the world of swimming. Cowdrey started swimming at the age of five and was determined to be not just as good, but better than most able-bodied persons. Having set his goals for success, Cowdrey quickly stamped his mark on his S9 classification, breaking his first Australian open record at age 11 and world record at age 13.

In 2004, he competed at the Paralympics in Athens where he won three Gold, two Silver and two Bronze medals and finished the meet with two World & Paralympics Record times.

In 2006, Cowdrey continued to improve on his personal best times and became the only Australian male swimmer, including able bodied swimmers, to win individual Gold at the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games, where he won Gold in the men’s 50m and 100m EAD Freestyle events, both in World Record time.

 

However, it was at the Paralympics in Beijing 2008 that Matt truly arrived as a dominant force on the world stage, with a staggering haul of five World Records, five Gold medals and three Silver medals. Matt followed this up the following year at the World Championships in Brazil with seven World Records, seven Gold medals and two Silver medals, which demonstrated the true versatility of this athlete, drawing many comparisons to Michael Phelps of America.

Cowdrey added another Commonwealth Gold medal to his haul above after a dominant display at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, in which he smashed the World Record he set at the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the S9 50m Freestyle final.

Matt’s amazing achievements have been recognized throughout his career, and has been named the Australian Swimmer of the Year with a Disability two years in a row and the 2005 Male Athlete of the Year at the Stan Wickham Disability Awards. Matt currently trains in his home town of Adelaide, where he has set his sights firmly on adding to his Commonwealth Gold collection at Glasgow 2014. In his spare time, this intelligent and extremely motivated young man is currently undertaking an internship with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Matt is a confident and articulate speaker, lending his time to charities and motivating workplaces and kids with his ‘can do’ attitude.

 

ACHIEVEMENTS

2012 London Paralympic Games 
5 x GOLD medals
2 x SILVER medals
1 x BRONZE medals

1 x WORLD RECORD

2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games

1 x GOLD medal
1 x WORLD RECORD

2009 Brazil, IPC World Swimming Championships:
7 x GOLD medals
7 x WORLD RECORD
2 x SILVER medals

2008 Beijing Paralympic Games:
5 x GOLD medals
5 x WORLD RECORD
3 x SILVER medals

2004 Athens Paralympic Games: 
3 x GOLD medals
2 x SILVER medals
2 x BRONZE medals

2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games: 
2 x GOLD medals
2 x WORLD RECORD

2006 South Africa, IPC World Swimming Championships: 
5 x GOLD medals
3 x WORLD RECORDS
2 x SILVER medals
1 x BRONZE medals

HONOURS

IPC best male athlete of the year 2008
Swimmer of the Year with a Disability 2004, 2005, 2006
Telstra Australian All-Star Swim Team 2006
Commonwealth Sports Awards
Outstanding Male Elite Athlete with Disability Award 2006