Matt Levy

Matthew John Levy, OAM (born 11 January 1987) is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. He represented Australia at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics. These were his fourth Games.[1]

Matt Levy
2016 Australian Paralympic Team portrait
Personal information
Full nameMatthew John Levy
NationalityAustralian
Born (1987-01-11) 11 January 1987
Sydney, New South Wales
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle, butterfly, medley
ClassificationsS7
ClubNorth Sydney Swimming Club
CoachSteve Badger

Personal

Levy has cerebral palsy and a vision impairment due to being born 15 weeks premature.[2][3] He attended St Andrew's Cathedral School in Sydney.[4] He works at Westpac Bank and lives in Sydney.[2]

Competitive career

Levy at the 2012 Summer Paralympics

Levy is classified as an S7 swimmer.[2][5] Levy first competed for Australia in 2003; that year, he broke the 200 m freestyle short course world record.[2] He competed but did not win any medals at the 2004 Athens Games.[6] He competed at the 2006 IPC Swimming World Championships and won four silver and four bronze medals at the 2007 Telstra Short Course Championships.[2] At the 2008 Beijing Games, he won a gold medal in the 4×100 m medley relay 34 pts event.[6] At the 2010 IPC Swimming World Championships, he won a gold medal in the 4×100 m freestyle relay event, two silver medals in the 100 m breaststroke and 100 m freestyle events, and two bronze medals in the 50 m butterfly and 200 m individual medley events.

At the 2012 London Paralympics he won five medals: a gold medal in the 4×100 m freestyle relay, a silver medal in the 100 m freestyle S7, and three bronze medals in the 200 m individual medley SM7, 100 m breaststroke SB7 and 4×100 m medley relay.[6] He also participated in the 400 m freestyle S7, 50 m butterfly S7 and 50 m freestyle S7 events.[6]

Competing at the 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships in Montreal, he won two gold medals in the 200 m individual medley S7 and 4×100 m freestyle relay and a silver medal in the 100 m freestyle S7.[7][8]

At the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships, he won silver medals in the Men's 100 m freestyle S7 and 200 m medley SM7 and bronze medals in the Men's 50 m freestyle S7 and Men's 4×100 m freestyle relay 34 points.[9][10][11][12] He finished fourth in the men's 100 m breaststroke SB7, men's 50 m butterfly S7 and men's 4 × 100 m medley relay 34pts.[13]

At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, he won the bronze medal in the Men's 200 m Individual Medley SM7. He placed fourth in the Men's 50 m Freestyle S7 and Men's 100 m Freestyle S7, fifth in the Men's 50 m Butterfly S7, fourth in the Men's 4×100 m Medley Relay (34 points) and fifth in the Men's 4×100 m Freestyle (34 Points).[14]

As of 2015, he is a New South Wales Institute of Sport scholarship holder.[15]

Recognition

Levy was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2014 Australia Day Honours "for service to sport as a Gold Medallist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games."[3] In 2015, he was named Athlete of the Year with a Disability at the New South Wales Sport Awards.[16] In October 2018, he was named Swimming Australia's Paralympic Program Swimmer of the Year.[17]

References

  1. "Swimming Australia Paralympic Squad Announcement". Swimming Australia News. Archived from the original on 13 November 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2016.
  2. "Matt Levy". Australian Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  3. "Australia Day honours list 2014: in full". Daily Telegraph. 26 January 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
  4. Bannister, Laura (7 September 2009). "Water Boys: St Andrew's Victories Make a Splash". St Andrew's Cathedral School. Archived from the original on 9 October 2009. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  5. Wake 2010, p. 4
  6. "Athlete Search Results". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  7. "Men's relay team back it up in Montreal". Swimming Australia News. 16 August 2013. Archived from the original on 12 March 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  8. "Twenty-seven medals for the Australian swim team in Montreal". Swimming Australia News. 19 August 2013. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  9. "Ellie's world record double in golden start for Dolphins in Glasgow". Swimming Australia News. 14 July 2015. Archived from the original on 14 July 2015. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
  10. "Six golds and one world record for Ukraine at Glasgow 2015". International Paralympic Committee News. 16 July 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2015.
  11. "Aussies unite for a nail biting bronze medal win in the men's relay". Swimming Australia News. 18 July 2015. Archived from the original on 21 July 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  12. "Seven golds in seven days for Dias at Glasgow 2015". International Paralympic Committee News. 19 July 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  13. "Matthew Levy results". Glasgow 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  14. "Matthew Levy". Rio Paralympics Official site. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  15. "2015 swimming scholarships" (PDF). New South Wales Institute of Sport website. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  16. "LEVY Matt". International Paralympic Committee. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
  17. "Australian Swimming stars in and out of the water celebrated". Swimming Australia website. 28 October 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.

Bibliography

  • Wake, Rebekka (September 2010). "Golden Glow Over Australian Swimming". Australian Paralympian. Australia: Australian Paralympic Committee. 2.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.