Matthew Cowdrey

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Matthew Cowdrey
Personal information
Full name Matthew John Cowdrey
Nationality  Australia
Born 22 December 1988 (1988-12-22) (age 23)
Adelaide, South Australia
Height 1.82 metres (6 ft 0 in)
Sport
Sport Swimming
Stroke(s) Freestyle, Backstroke, Butterfly, Medley
Club Norwood Swimming Club (S.A.)

Matthew John Cowdrey, OAM [1](born 22 December 1988) is an Australian swimmer and holder of numerous world records. He lives in South Australia and swims for the Norwood Swimming Club. He has a congenital amputation of his left arm; it stops at the elbow. Cowdrey competed at the 2004 Paralympic Games, 2006 Commonwealth Games, 2008 Paralympic Games and the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

Contents

[edit] Personal

Cowdrey was born on 22 December 1988[2] with part of his arm missing[3] as a result of a congenital amputation.[2] Other sports he has played when he was younger was basketball.[4] In 2010, he lived in Salisbury Heights, South Australia, and was studying law and media[2] at the University of Adelaide.[5] He moved to Canberra, Australian Capital Territory and started swimming for the Australian Institute of Sport, while continuing to represent the Norwood Swimming Club of Adelaide on the club level. [4] In 2011, he also represented Kawana Waters Swimming Club.[6] As of 2011, he was studying law at the Australian National University.[4] He is 182cm tall and weighs 76kg.[4]

[edit] Swimming

Cowdrey competes in the International Paralympic Committee's S9 (freestyle, backstroke and butterfly) SB9 (breaststroke) and SM9 (individual medley) classifications;[7] which comprise swimmers with a severe leg weakness, swimmers with slight coordination problems and swimmers with one limb loss.[8] Cowdrey started swimming when he was five years old. He started competitive swimming in 1994.[2] He broke his first Australian open record when he was eleven years old.[2] He set his first world record at the age of thirteen.[2]

[edit] 2004

Cowdrey was one of the youngest Australian competitors at the 2004 Paralympics.[3] At the 2004 Games, he won three gold medals in the Men's 4x100 m Medley 34, 100 m freestyle S9 and 200 m individual medley SM9 events,[7] for which he received a Medal of the Order of Australia, [1] two silver medals in the 100 m butterfly S9 and 4×100 m freestyle Relay events, and two bronze medals in the 50 m freestyle-S9 and 400 m freestyle-S9 events.[7]

[edit] 2005

At the 2005 Australian Open, Cowdrey won seven gold medals while setting two world records, and won two bronze medals.[5]

[edit] 2006

At the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games Trials, Cowdrey set world records and won gold medals in four events: The 200m individual medley mixed disability classification, 100m backstroke mixed disability classification, 50m backstroke mixed disability classification and 50m butterfly mixed disability classification events. He did not set world records but still won gold medals in two events: The 100m freestyle mixed disability classification and 50m Freestyle mixed disability classification events.[5] At the 2006 Commonwealth Games Trials - Team Qualification Races, he won a gold medal and set a world record in the 100m freestyle Elite Athlete with a Disability (EAD) event, and won a gold medal in the 50m freestyle (EAD) event.[5]

Cowdrey competed at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Victoria, where he set two world records and won gold medals in the 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle events. [2] He was Australia's only male non-relay individual swimming gold medalist the the 2006 Commonwealth Games.[5] At the 2006 World Championships, he set three world records while earning three gold medals, two silver medals and bronze.[2] In 2008, at the Australian Swimming Championships, he won gold medals four events:the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke and 100m Butterfly. At those same games, he won two silver medals in the 200m individual medley and 400m freestyle events.[5] These Games had limited opportunities for Paralympic swimmers as not all events were on the event programme.[9]

[edit] 2008

At the 2008 Summer Paralympics, Cowdrey picked up five gold medals in the 50 m freestyle-S9, 100 m freestyle-S9, 100 m backstroke-S9, 200 m individual medley-SM9 and 4×100 m medley Relay events. He picked up three silver medals in the 100 m butterfly-S9, 400 m freestyle-S9 and 4×100 m freestyle relay events.[10] In Beijing, he set five world records.[2] He also carried Australia's flag during the closing ceremonies for the Games.[4]

[edit] 2009

At the 2009 IPC World Championships in Brazil, Cowdrey won five gold medals and two silver medals.[4] In 2009, he competed in his first international competition against able bodied swimmers. The competition was in Tucson, Arizona. [11]

[edit] 2010

At the 2010 IPC Swimming World Championships, Cowdrey, who was classified as an S9 swimmer, won six gold medals and one silver medal. One of the medals was in the men's 4x100m relay raced.[12] At the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, he won a gold medal in the 50 m freestyle-S9 event in a world record time of  25.33 seconds, which is still standing as of February 2012.[13][14]

[edit] 2011

In 2011, a week before the Can-Am Swimming Open, Cowdrey was reclassified from S9 to S8.[15] In July 2011, he participated at the Australian Short Course Championships. [6] In August 2011, he participated in the Pan Pacific Para Swimming Championships.[6] In October 2011, he participated at the 2011 Swimmeroo QLD Long Course.[6] He competed in the Can-Am Swimming Open, he won a gold medal in the S8 100m breaststroke, with the fourth fastest time posted for the event during 2011: 1:12.85.[15]

[edit] Recognition

In 2004, at the Australian Paralympian of the Year Awards, he was named the Young Paralympian of the Year.[5] In 2006, Cowdrey won the Commonwealth Sports Award in the category of male Elite Athlete with a Disability (EAD).[5]Swimming Australia named him their Swimmer of the Year with a Disability for four years in a row, from 2004 to 2007.[5] He was also named to Swimming Australia's All-Star Swim Team in 2006 and 2007.[5] Swimming World Magazine has named him their "World Swimmer of the Year with a Disability."[5] In 2009, he was named the Young South Australian of the Year.[16]. In 2011, he was inducted into the Australian Institute of Sport's 'Best of the Best'.[17]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Cowdrey, Matthew John". It's an Honour. http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=1057806&search_type=quick&showInd=true. Retrieved 2 February 2011. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Matthew Cowdrey". Australian Paralympic Committee. http://www.paralympic.org.au/team/matthew-cowdrey. Retrieved 4 November 2011. 
  3. ^ a b Halloran, Jessica (21 September 2004). "Australian teenagers enjoy big day in pool". The Age (Melbourne, Victoria). http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/09/21/1095651260331.html?from=storyrhs. Retrieved 12 November 2011. 
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Matthew Cowdrey". Australia: Swimming Australia. 2011. http://swimming.org.au/profiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=profile&ProfileID=1061012. Retrieved 12 November 2011. 
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Matt Cowdrey". South Australia, Australia: South Australian Amputee Golf Association. http://www.saaga.org.au/profiles/Matt_Cowdrey/. Retrieved 12 November 2011. 
  6. ^ a b c d "Matthew Cowdrey: LAtest Results". Australia: Swimming Australia. 2011. http://swimming.org.au/profiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=ProfileResults&ProfileID=1061012. Retrieved 13 November 2011. 
  7. ^ a b c "Athlete Search Results". International Paralympic Committee. http://www.paralympic.org/Sport/Results/search.html?npc=AUS&gender=all&medal=medals&sport=all&games=2004PG. Retrieved 12 November 2011. 
  8. ^ Buckley, Jane (2011). "Understanding Classification: A Guide to the Classification Systems used in Paralympic Sports". http://www.sportingwheelies.org.au/doc.php?ID=38. Retrieved 12 November 2011. 
  9. ^ "Pools of positive thought". The Age (Melbourne, Victoria). 9 March 2006. http://www.theage.com.au/news/swimming/pools-of-positive-thought/2006/03/08/1141701575488.html. Retrieved 12 November 2011. 
  10. ^ "Athlete Search Results". International Paralympic Committee. http://www.paralympic.org/Sport/Results/search.html?npc=AUS&gender=all&medal=medals&sport=all&games=2008PG. Retrieved 12 November 2011. 
  11. ^ Cowrey, Matthew (1 June 2009). "Presentation by Matthew Cowdrey OAM, SA Young Australian of the Year 2009 and distinguished Paralympian". Adelaide, South Australia: Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre. http://www.unisa.edu.au/hawkecentre/events/2009events/MatthewCowdrey_presentation.pdf. Retrieved 13 November 2011. 
  12. ^ Wake, Rebekka (September 2010). "Golden Glow Over Australian Swimming". Australian Paralympian (Australia: Australian Paralympic Committee) 2. 
  13. ^ "IPC Swimming World Records Long Course" (PDF). International Paralympic Committee. http://www.paralympic.org/sdms/web/sw/record.pdf.sw.php?xml=0&rct=RCTWR&dis=LC&gen=M. Retrieved 2 February 2012. 
  14. ^ "Cowdrey sets record in golden run". ABC News. 7 October 2010. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2010-10-06/cowdrey-sets-record-in-golden-run/2288720. Retrieved 2 February 2012. 
  15. ^ a b "Sport News". Paralympic.org. 2011-12-12. http://www.paralympic.org/Media_Centre/News/Sport_News/2011_12_12_a.html. Retrieved 2012-01-01. 
  16. ^ "What matters in Australia today: Four perspectives". Bob Hawke Prime Ministerial Centre. 1 June 2009. http://www.unisa.edu.au/hawkecentre/events/2009events/ADCSA_discussion.asp. Retrieved 13 November 2011. 
  17. ^ Minister announces Australian Institute of Sport Best of the Best Athletes

[edit] External links

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