5 gold medals 5 world records

Sport

Students and staff at the University of Adelaide have an extra reason - in fact, eight extra reasons - to feel proud of one of their colleagues.

These are the eight medals won by 19-year-old swimmer Matthew Cowdrey OAM at the recent Paralympic Games in Beijing.

Matt, a Media and Law student at the University of Adelaide, was the most successful Australian athlete at last month's Games and the most successful of any of the 4000 Paralympians competing in Beijing.

He won five gold medals - all in world record times - and three silver medals, placing him at the top of the individual medal count for the Paralympics. This eclipsed his medal haul at Athens in 2004 of three gold, two silver and two bronze, and earned him the role of flag bearer for the Australian team at the Beijing closing ceremony.

In Beijing, he won gold in the 100m freestyle, 200m individual medley, 100m backstroke, 50m freestyle and men's 4x100m medley relay.

Even before the Beijing Games had begun, Matt had already achieved Paralympic, World Championship and Commonwealth Games glory. Born with a congenital amputation to his lower left arm, Matt broke his first Australian open record at age 11 and his first world record at age 13. He has since gone on to break more than 70 world records.

In 2005 he was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to sport as a gold medallist at the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games, and he was named Disabled Male Swimmer of the Year for 2007 by Swimming World Magazine.

Matt's swimming coach, Peter Bishop, said: "Matt's a real high achiever and he always aims to do the best that he can in most things, whether it's swimming, work or study.

"His ability to perform in the pool under high pressure is amazing.

"Every time he made it into a final in his events at Beijing, he always swam faster than the world record. That was way above our expectations."

The Dean of the University of Adelaide's Law School, Professor Rosemary Owens, described Matt's performance as "truly extraordinary".

"I know that many of us at the Law School - and right across the University - have been transfixed as we watched Matt during the Games coverage, and we have been in awe of his feats in the pool.

"Matt's achievement is remarkable for any athlete, and it will continue to inspire us for a long time. To see him carrying the Australian flag at the closing ceremony was for all of us the perfect conclusion to the Games. We couldn't be more proud, and we wish Matt every success in his future athletic career and, of course, his studies in Law."

The Head of Media at the University of Adelaide, Associate Professor Mary Griffiths, said Matt's experience in Beijing would also benefit him in his studies.

"For a Bachelor of Media student and someone who's also the focus of intense media attention, the whole visit will have been quite instructional. Students and his teachers will look forward to hearing how media works in China, because Matt's coming back from Beijing having had an exceptional cultural and media experience," Dr Griffiths said.

"Matt's photographs and the interviews he's given have had global distribution online. Global press is the place where an athlete can really distinguish himself as a preferred role model, as someone whom people want to admire and support, and as a great ambassador for the groups he represents. Matt seems to handle it all very well."

She said Media staff and students were also proud of what Matt had achieved.

"Matt became the face of Australia towards the end of the Paralympics. He's won the medals, the honour of being a top performer and Australia's flag bearer. We're really proud of his success - and the fact he always says he's a student at the University of Adelaide!"

Matt is registered with the University's Elite Athlete program, which helps students to balance their sporting and academic commitments.

Story by David Ellis