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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-10-30 Daily Xml
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COWDREY, MR M.

Mr SIBBONS (Mitchell) (16:02): Today I rise to congratulate Australia's most successful Paralympian, swimmer Matt Cowdrey, on yet another well-deserved honour as part of an incredible career. The competition pool at the South Australian Aquatic and Leisure Centre in my electorate of Mitchell was recently named in his honour, and I believe it is worthy recognition for this inspirational young South Australian.

Matt has earned an amazing 23 medals, including 13 gold, across three Paralympic Games. At the most recent titles, this year in London, he won eight of those medals (five gold, two silver and one bronze), earning a place in each event in which he competed, and breaking his own world record in the 50-metre freestyle. Matt's 2012 Paralympic performance buoyed Australia's swim team to a best-ever tally of 18 gold, and 37 medals in total.

He also won five gold medals, three silver medals and set five world records in Beijing in 2008, and won three gold, two silver and two bronze medals and set two world and Paralympic records at the Athens games in 2004. All being well, we look forward to him leading Australia's charge again in two years' time in Glasgow for the Commonwealth Games, and in four years' time at the Rio Paralympics.

Swimming Australia president David Urquhart recently said Matt's leadership of the team in London was 'unparalleled', and described him as an 'outstanding ambassador' for his sport; I could not agree more. Born with a congenital amputation of his lower left arm, 23-year-old Matt has been swimming since he was five years old, and competing since 1994. Soon making his mark in the S9 classification, he broke his first Australian open record when he was only 11 years old, followed shortly by his first world record at age 13.

In the years since, in addition to his Paralympics effort, he has also earned multiple world championship titles and three Commonwealth Games gold medals. He won two of these and set two world records in the 2006 games in Melbourne, at which he was Australia's only male swimmer, including able-bodied competitors, to win individual gold. But perhaps most astonishing of all his great achievements was his performance in the IPC World Swimming Championships in Brazil in 2009—seven gold medals and seven world records. Across his career, he has competed across a range of distances and disciplines: 50-metre freestyle, 100-metre freestyle, 400-metre freestyle, 100-metre backstroke, 100-metre butterfly and the 200-metre individual medley.

A man of many talents, Matt was also recently one of the stars and leading goalscorers in the Little Heroes Foundation Slowdown 2012 charity football match which raises money for children living with cancer and other serious illnesses, and their families. That match gave him the chance to represent his beloved Adelaide Crows alongside former stars of the club including Tony Modra, Andrew Jarman and Mark Ricciuto. Matt is a keen golfer too and competed in the 2010 Amateur Amputee Golf Championships.

Despite currently living and training on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, he still regards himself as a proud South Australian. He studies media and law at Adelaide University and also works for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. When he retires from swimming, he hopes to secure an overseas post with DFAT.

Matt serves as an inspiration to all of us, to strive to do our very best despite the challenges we may face along the way. His performances in the pool have taken enormous strength and courage and we can all learn something from the determination and spirit he demonstrates. With the added recognition of our state's top pool bearing his name, we can be sure he will continue to be a role model for young and aspiring swimmers for years to come. I extend my warm congratulations to Matt.

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