Step Aside Michael Phelps - Australia Has the Best All Time Swimmer
Australia is known as a swimming powerhouse and the paraolympics are no different.
The 2008 Games start tomorrow in Beijing, and no offence intended to Michael Phelps, but he needs to step aside and give up his title as the best swimmer of all time.
Australian Matt Cowdrey has broken a staggering 70 world records so far and has a stack of World Championship, Paraolympics and Commonwealth medals…at only 19 years old!
He set his first Australian record at age 11 and first world record at age 13, won 7 medals in the 2004 Games at only 15 years old and won 8 medals at the 2006 World Championships in the amputee classification.
At the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne in 2006, Cowdrey was the only Australian male swimmer [able bodied or athlete with a disability] to win individual gold.
Matt has also swam competitively againest able bodied swimmers at state level - and beat them. To add to this mass of greatness, in addition to his intensive training he is studying for dual bachelors degrees in law and media studies.
With an amusing style, when asked about his disability he said “I wish I had something exciting to say, some big disaster but I was just born without my arm just below the elbow on the left hand side“.
Matt will swim in eight events at the 2008 Games - the 50, 100 and 400m freestyle, the 100m backstroke, 100m butterfly, 200m Individual Medley, 4×100m Medley Relay and 4×100m freestyle relay.
[Photo by getty images, click to enlarge]
Paralympic swimmers compete in all five styles - freestyle, butterfly, breaststroke, backstroke and medley.
To assist visually impaired swimmers, callers or tappers are employed, calling out to the swimmers as they approach the wall, while the tappers hold a long pole with a soft tip which they use to tap swimmers on the shoulder as they come close to the turn.
In addition to Matt, Australia has sent a very strong swimming contigent considting of numerous former medalists and record holders.
They are; Michael Anderson, Qld; Ben Austin, NSW; Daniel Bell, Vic; Sarah Bowen, Vic; Sam Bramham, Vic; Blake Cochrane, Qld; Ellie Cole, Vic; Matt Cowdrey, SA; Jay Dohnt, SA; Amanda Drennan, Vic; Jacqui Freney, NSW; Samantha Gandolfo, Vic; Alex Hadley, Vic; Brenden Hall, Qld; Marayke Jonkers, Qld; Peter Leek, NSW; Matt Levy, NSW; Katrina Lewis, ACT; Sian Lucas, NSW; Jeremy McClure, WA; Hannah Macdougall, Vic; Tarryn McGaw, Vic; Ricardo Moffatti, Qld; Rhiannon Oliver, Qld; Stephen Osborne, Qld; Esther Overton, Vic; Andrew Pasterfield, NSW; Rick Pendleton, NSW; Katrina Porter, WA; Shelley Rogers, SA; Sarah Rose, NSW; Jeremy Tidy, WA; Teigan Van Roosmalen, NSW; Prue Watt, Vic; Annabelle Williams, NSW.
Click here to read more in depth about Australia’s 2008 Beijing Paralympic swimming team.
We said this in our other post about the Paraolympics, but it bears repeating…
While we are being tounge in cheek about Phelps and admire what he and all Olympians have accomplished, there is very special admiration reserved for those who do it against the odds.
As much as Matt is to be commended, it’s like comparing apples to oranges if you’re going to put him up against Michael Phelps. Let’s face it, there are not as many elite competitive disabled swimmers as there are able-bodied swimmers. The competition at the paraolympics is a bit uneven and not as stiff as the Olympic stage.
I see your point, and of course the article was written tongue in cheek. I still personally have a far greater admiration for disabled athletes as they had to cross barriers to succeed before they even started, something able bodied people didn’t have to.