Matthew James Welsh (born 18 November 1976) is an Australian

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

who is the former world champion in the

backstroke Backstroke or back crawl is one of the four swimming styles used in competitive events regulated by FINA, and the only one of these styles swum on the back. This swimming style has the advantage of easy breathing, but the disadvantage of swimme ...

and

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group comprises ...

. He took two golds in 50-meter butterfly and 50-meter backstroke, during one hour, at the World Championships in Shanghai 2006. Welsh retired from professional swimming in March 2008 when he failed to secure a place in the team for the Beijing Olympics.

Early years

Welsh started swimming in his final years at Scotch College, Melbourne and moved into competitive swimming in 1995 after leaving school at the age of eighteen. He trained under coach Ian Pope at the Melbourne Vicentre Club. His first big break came in 1998 at the world swimming championships in Perth, Western Australia with a gold in the 4x100-metre medley relay.

World and Olympic accomplishments

At 31 and after 11 years on the Australian Swim Team, Welsh was unable to beat the younger generation at the trials and was not selected to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

Swimming-history

Welsh has won several world championship titles in both backstroke and butterfly. He first broke the Australian record in the 100-metre backstroke in 1998. He also won more Australian swimming titles than any swimmer in history, claiming his 50th win at the 2006 Australian titles in Brisbane in December 2006.

Personal life

Welsh married Lauren Newton, the daughter of Bert and Patti Newton, and sister of Matthew Newton, on 4 November 2006. They are parents to six children born between January 2008 and August 2020.

Awards and honors

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

in 2000. * Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2013 for services swimming and charity work.

References

External links

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Elite Sports
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Welsh, Matt 1976 births Living people Australian male backstroke swimmers Australian male butterfly swimmers Swimmers from Melbourne Olympic swimmers of Australia Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists for Australia Olympic bronze medalists for Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Swimmers at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2006 Commonwealth Games World record setters in swimming People educated at Scotch College, Melbourne Olympic bronze medalists in swimming World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Medalists at the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in swimming Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming Goodwill Games medalists in swimming Competitors at the 2001 Goodwill Games