Matthew Wylie

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Matthew Wylie
Personal information
NationalityBritish
Born (1996-10-14) 14 October 1996 (age 25)
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesFreestyle
ClubCity of Sunderland ASC
CoachDanny Thompson (club)
Rob Greenwood (national)
Medal record
Men's swimming
Representing  Great Britain
Paralympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2016 Rio de Janeiro 50m freestyle S9
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016 Funchal
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Funchal

Matthew James "Matt" Wylie MBE[1] (born 14 October 1996) is a British swimmer. Wylie, who has cerebral palsy, competes as a parasport athlete competing as a S9 classification swimmer competing mainly in freestyle events. In 2016 he took gold in the 50m freestyle at the IPC European Championships and was also selected for the Great Britain team at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio.

Personal history[]

Wylie was born in Sunderland, England in 1996.[2] Wylie, who has cerebral palsy, underwent a series of operations between 2004 and 2007 after a tumour was discovered on his leg.[3]

Swimming history[]

Wylie took up swimming following medical advice after his tumour operations. It was believed that regular swimming would help correct his different leg lengths and the way he walked.[3] In 2014 he represented Great Britain at his first major international event, travelling to Eindhoven to take part in the 2014 IPC Swimming European Championships. He took part in three events: the 50m, 200m and 400m freestyle races. He reached the finals of the 50m and 400m events, finishing fourth, just outside the medals in the 400m.[3]

Two years later he represented Britain at the 2016 IPC Swimming European Championships, this time in Funchal. He competed in three events, winning two medals. He took gold in the 50m freestyle, with a time of 25.85, and was part of the British men's team who took silver in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay. Although the relay team finished third, the second spot was taken by Brazil, who were competing as part of the open tournament in the run up to the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio. That year he qualified for his first Summer Paralympics, named as part of the Great Britain team to compete at Rio, where he won gold in the Men's 50m Freestyle S9 competition.

References[]

  1. ^ "New Year's Honours list 2017" (PDF). Gov.uk. Government Digital Service. 30 December 2016. p. 92. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  2. ^ "Paralympic Games: Great Britain's team for Rio 2016". bbc.com. 16 May 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
  3. ^ a b c "Wylie, Matthew". paralympic.org. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
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