Matt Levy


Matthew John Levy, is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. He represented Australia at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics. These were his fourth Games.

Personal

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

Competitive career

Levy is classified as an S7 swimmer. Levy first competed for Australia in 2003; that year, he broke the 200 m freestyle short course world record. He competed but did not win any medals at the 2004 Athens Games. He competed at the 2006 IPC Swimming World Championships and won four silver and four bronze medals at the 2007 Telstra Short Course Championships. At the 2008 Beijing Games, he won a gold medal in the 4×100 m medley relay 34 pts event. 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. He also participated in the 400 m freestyle S7, 50 m butterfly S7 and 50 m freestyle S7 events.
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.
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. 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.
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 and fifth in the Men's 4×100 m Freestyle.
As of 2015, he is a New South Wales Institute of Sport scholarship holder.

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." In 2015, he was named Athlete of the Year with a Disability at the New South Wales Sport Awards. In October 2018, he was named Swimming Australia's Paralympic Program Swimmer of the Year.