page_title: Matt Cowdrey
section_title: Personal
hierarchical_section_title: Matt Cowdrey / Personal
caption_attribution_description: English: Photograph of Australian Paralympic team member Matthew Cowdrey at the 2012 Summer Paralympic Games in London
context_page_description: Matthew John Cowdrey OAM is an Australian politician and Paralympic swimmer. He presently holds numerous world records. He has a congenital amputation of his left arm; it stops just below the elbow. Cowdrey competed at the 2004 Paralympic Games, 2006 Commonwealth Games, 2008 Paralympic Games, 2010 Commonwealth Games, and the 2012 Paralympic Games. After the 2012 London Games, he is the most successful Australian Paralympian, having won thirteen Paralympic gold medals and twenty three Paralympic medals in total. On 10 February 2015, Cowdrey announced his retirement from swimming.
  Cowdrey contested and won the seat of Colton at the 2018 state election in South Australia for the Liberal Party.
context_section_description: Cowdrey was born on 22 December 1988 with part of his arm missing due to a congenital amputation. He attended Endeavour College and played basketball when he was younger. He moved to Canberra and started swimming for the Australian Institute of Sport, while continuing to represent the Norwood Swimming Club of Adelaide on the club level. In 2011, he also represented Kawana Waters Swimming Club. As of 2013, he swims for the Marion Swimming Club.
  In April 2015, Cowdrey graduated from the University of Adelaide with a double degree in law and media. In 2013, he undertook a three-month internship with U.S. Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. In 2015, at the time of his retirement, he was working for KPMG in Adelaide.
caption: Cowdrey at the 2012 London Paralympics
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