Imagen
4883-Matthew Walker photo

Matthew Walker

Swimming
6
9
7

Biography

Impairment information

Type of Impairment
Cerebral Palsy
Origin of Impairment
Congenital
Classification
S7, SB7, SM7

Further personal information

Residence
Marple, ENG
Occupation
Athlete, Motivational Speaker
Languages
English
Higher education
Business - University of Manchester: England

Sport specific information

When and where did you begin this sport?
He began swimming at age five and earned a place in the British team in 1996.
Why this sport?
Doctors encouraged his parents to introduce him to the sport to help with his cerebral palsy. Later, he was inspired to compete internationally by watching the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul on television.
Club / Team
City of Manchester Aquatics: England
Name of coach
Mark Rose [club], GBR; Rob Greenwood [national], GBR

International debut

Year
1998
Competing for
Great Britain
Tournament
European Championships

General interest

Nicknames
Mathos (sportcentric.com, 03 Feb 2010)
Memorable sporting achievement
Winning a bronze medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, VIC, Australia. (swimming.org, 25 Nov 2014)
Most influential person in career
Mark Rodds. (swimming.org, 10 Jul 2011)
Sporting philosophy / motto
"All athletes are the same, regardless of whether you’re able-bodied or not. We all have to train and put the work in." (metro.co.uk, 04 May 2006)
Awards and honours
He was named a Member of the British Empire [MBE] in 2009. (paralympics.org.uk, 03 Feb 2010)
Impairment
He has cerebral palsy which affects his entire body. He was born with a lot of nerves in his upper body trapped and his muscles didn’t develop as normal. Without exercise his body stiffens and he has difficulty walking. (metro.co.uk, 04 May 2006)
Other information
SCOUTS
He has been involved with the Scouts for many years, and was presented with the Queen's Scout Award by the Queen at Windsor Castle in 1999. (paralympics.org.uk, 03 Feb 2010; manchestereveningnews.co.uk, 05 Sep 2012)

Results

Unit Date Rank
IPC Swimming World Championships Eindhoven 2010 (Eindhoven, Netherlands)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 50 m Freestyle S7 Final Round 1
Men's 50 m Freestyle S7 Heat 3 1
Men's 50 m Butterfly S7 Final Round 2
Men's 50 m Butterfly S7 Heat 2 2
Men's 4x100 m Freestyle 34pts Final Round 3
Men's 4x100 m Freestyle 34pts Heat 2 1
Men's 100 m Freestyle S7 Final Round 4
Men's 100 m Freestyle S7 Heat 1 1
Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games (Beijing, China)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 50 m Freestyle S7 Final Round 2
Men's 50 m Freestyle S7 Heat 1 1
Men's 100 m Freestyle S7 Heat 2 2
Men's 100 m Freestyle S7 Final Round 3
Men's 4x100 m Freestyle 34 pts Final Round 1
Men's 200 m Individual Medley SM7 Final Round 3
Men's 200 m Individual Medley SM7 Heat 2 3
Men's 50 m Butterfly S7 Final Round 2
Men's 50 m Butterfly S7 Heat 1 1
IPC Swimming World Championships Durban 2006 (Durban, South Africa)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 100 m Breaststroke SB7 Heats 6
Men's 100 m Breaststroke SB7 Final Round 5
Men's 100 m Freestyle S7 Heats 3
Men's 100 m Freestyle S7 Final Round 3
Men's 4x100 m Freestyle 34 pts Final Round 1
Men's 50 m Freestyle S7 Heats 2
Men's 50 m Freestyle S7 Final Round 3
Athens 2004 Paralympic Games (Athens, Greece)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 4x100 m Freestyle 34 pts Final Round 1
Men's 4x100 m Freestyle 34 pts Heat 2 1
Men's 200 m Individual Medley SM7 Final Round 4
Men's 200 m Individual Medley SM7 Heat 1 4
Men's 50 m Butterfly S7 Final Round 6
Men's 50 m Butterfly S7 Heat 2 3
Men's 100 m Breaststroke SB7 Final Round 9999
Men's 100 m Breaststroke SB7 Heat 1 3
Men's 100 m Freestyle S7 Final Round 2
Men's 100 m Freestyle S7 Heat 1 1
Men's 50 m Freestyle S7 Final Round 2
Men's 50 m Freestyle S7 Heat 1 1
Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games (Sydney, Australia)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 4x100 m Freestyle 34 pts Heat 2 1
Men's 50 m Butterfly S7 Heat 1 5
Men's 100 m Breaststroke SB7 Final Round 3
Men's 100 m Breaststroke SB7 Heat 2 2
Men's 100 m Freestyle S7 Final Round 4
Men's 100 m Freestyle S7 Heat 1 1
Men's 50 m Freestyle S7 Final Round 2
Men's 50 m Freestyle S7 Heat 2 1
Men's 4x100 m Freestyle 34 pts Final Round 1
IPC Swimming World Championships Christchurch 1998 (Christchurch, New Zealand)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 4x50 m Freestyle Open Final Round 2
Men's 50 m Freestyle S7 Final Round 1
Men's 50 m Freestyle S7 Heats 1
Men's 100 m Breaststroke SB7 Final Round 4
IPC Swimming World Championships Mar del Plata 2002 (Mar del Plata, Argentina)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 50 m Freestyle S7 Heats 2
Men's 50 m Freestyle S7 Final Round 2
Men's 200 m Individual Medley SM7 Final Round 2
Men's 200 m Individual Medley SM7 Heats 3
Men's 100 m Breaststroke SB7 Final Round 4
Men's 100 m Breaststroke SB7 Heats 5
Men's 100 m Freestyle S7 Final Round 4
Men's 100 m Freestyle S7 Heats 2
London 2012 Paralympic Games (London, Great Britain)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 50 m Butterfly S7 Heat 2 2012-08-31 3
Men's 50 m Butterfly S7 Final Round 2012-08-31 7
Men's 50 m Freestyle S7 Heat 2 2012-09-04 1
Men's 50 m Freestyle S7 Final Round 2012-09-04 3
2013 IPC Swimming World Championships (Montreal, Canada)
Event Medal Unit Date Rank
Men's 50 m Freestyle S7 Heat 1 2013-08-14 2
Men's 50 m Freestyle S7 Final 1 2013-08-14 1
Men's 50 m Butterfly S7 Heat 2 2013-08-17 6
Men's 50 m Butterfly S7 Final 1 2013-08-17 6