 2016 Australian Paralympic team portrait | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Matthew John Levy | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Australian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1987-01-11)11 January 1987 (age 38) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Swimming | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Strokes | Freestyle,butterfly,medley | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Classifications | S7 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | North Sydney Swimming Club | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coach | Steve Badger | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Matthew John Levy,OAM (born 11 January 1987) is a retired Australian Paralympic swimmer. At five Paralympic Games from 2004 to 2020, he has won three gold, one silver and six bronze medals.
Levy hascerebral palsy and a vision impairment due to being born 15 weekspremature.[1][2] He attendedSt Andrew's Cathedral School in Sydney.[3] He works atDeloitte, is on the board of directors of the New South Wales disability organisation Ability Options, and lives inSydney.[1][4][5]
He completed a Bachelor of Business atSwinburne University of Technology in 2015 and a Master of Business Administration at theUniversity of Canberra in 2021.[5] In 2020, he released a memoir/self-help book,Keeping Your Head Above Water: Inspirational Insights From a Champion.[6]
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Levy is classified as anS7 swimmer.[1][7] Levy first competed for Australia in 2003; that year, he broke the 200 m freestyle short course world record.[1] He competed but did not win any medals at the2004 Athens Games.[8] He competed at the 2006IPC Swimming World Championships and won four silver and four bronze medals at the 2007Telstra Short Course Championships.[1] At the2008 Beijing Games, he won a gold medal in the4×100 m medley relay 34 pts event.[8] At the2010 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 the2012 London Paralympics he won five medals: a gold medal in the4×100 m freestyle relay, a silver medal in the100 m freestyle S7, and three bronze medals in the200 m individual medley SM7,100 m breaststroke SB7 and4×100 m medley relay.[8] He also participated in the400 m freestyle S7,50 m butterfly S7 and50 m freestyle S7 events.[8]
Competing at the2013 IPC Swimming World Championships inMontreal, he won two gold medals in the200 m individual medley S7 and4×100 m freestyle relay and a silver medal in the100 m freestyle S7.[9][10]
At the2015 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.[11][12][13][14] 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.[15]
At the2016 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).[16]
At the2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, Australia, he won gold in the Men's 50m Freestyle (S7).[17]
At the2019 World Para Swimming Championships inLondon, he came third (winning the bronze medal) in the Men's4 × 100 m Freestyle (34 points), came fourth in the Men's4 × 100 m Medley (34 points), fifth in the Men's 200m Individual Medley (SM7) and Men's 100m Freestyle (S7), sixth in the Men's 400m Freestyle (S7) and seventh in the Men's 100m Breaststroke (SB6) (Oceania Record).[17]
As of 2015[update], he is aNew South Wales Institute of Sport scholarship holder.[18]
At the2020 Tokyo Paralympics, Levy won gold in theMen's4 × 100 m freestyle 34 pts, along withRowan Crothers,William Martin andBen Popham, breaking the current World Record by almost 2 seconds.[19] He also won a bronze medal in theMen's 100 m breaststroke SB6.[19][20]
Levy won two medals – gold in the Mixed 4 × 100 m medley relay 34 pts and bronze in the Men's 50 m Freestyle S7 at the2022 World Para Swimming Championships,Madeira.[21]
He competed at the2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, where he won the gold medal in the Men's 50 m Freestyle S7. He announced his retirement from swimming at the games.[22]
Levy was awarded aMedal of the Order of Australia in the2014 Australia Day Honours "for service to sport as a Gold Medallist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games."[2] In 2015, he was named Athlete of the Year with a Disability at the New South Wales Sport Awards.[23] In October 2018, he was namedSwimming Australia's Paralympic Program Swimmer of the Year.[24] In November 2021, he received a New South Wales Institute of Sport Academic Excellence Award.[25] He was named the 2021 Sport NSW Athlete of the Year with a Disability.[26] In November 2023, Levy was inducted into theUniversity of Canberra Sports Walk of Fame.[27]
