Matthew Anthony "Matt" Haanappel, (born 21 May 1994) is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. He was born in

Wantirna, Victoria Wantirna is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 24 km east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Knox local government area. Wantirna recorded a population of 14,237 at the 2021 census. Its name is ...

and resides in the far eastern suburbs of

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. He has cerebral palsy right hemiplegia. Haanappel has represented

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

at the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

, the

2013 IPC Swimming World Championships The 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships was the seventh IPC Swimming World Championships, an international swimming competition, the biggest meet for athletes with a disability since the 2012 Summer Paralympics. It was held in Montreal, Quebec, ...

, the 2014 Pan Pacific Para Swimming Championships, the

2016 Summer Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for disabled sports, athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, f ...

, and the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

. He represents the

Camberwell Grammar School Camberwell Grammar School is an independent, single sex, Anglican primary and secondary day school for boys, located in Canterbury, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Camberwell Church of England Grammar School was founde ...

Aquatic club.

Personal

Haanappel was born on 21 May 1994, with

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, spasticity, stiff muscles, Paresis, weak muscles, and tremors. There may b ...

right hemiplegia as a result of a prenatal stroke. His disability severely impairs his fine motor skills and dexterity due to the spasticity in his right hand. Matthew attended the Cerebral Palsy Education Centre in Melbourne as a child, and is now an ambassador of the organisation. Haanappel comes from a family with a strong sporting background. His father Shane is an Australian basketball representative, his brother Adam is an international tennis player, and he is the cousin of retired cyclist

Cadel Evans Cadel Lee Evans (; born 14 February 1977) is an Australian former professional racing cyclist who competed professionally in both mountain biking and road bicycle racing. A four-time Olympian, Evans is one of three non-Europeans – along with ...

. Haanappel was a student at Croydon Secondary College from 2008 to 2011. During 2012, he deferred his VCE to spend more time training. In 2013, he returned to study at Melba College to complete his VCE. Haanappel is also an ambassador and advocate for Sport in Victoria, which promotes physical activity and sporting excellence through students in public schools within Victoria.

Swimming

040912 - Matthew Haanappel - 3b - 2012 Summer Paralympics

Haanappel is an S6 classified swimmer competing in 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 50m butterfly, 100m backstroke, 100m breaststroke and 200m individual medley. He was reclassified in early 2012, having previously competed in S7 events. He is a full-time member of the Paralympic Swimming Program at the

Victorian Institute of Sport The Victorian Institute of Sport (VIS) is the government-funded sporting institute of the Australian state of Victoria. It provides high performance sports programs for talented athletes, enabling them to achieve national and international succ ...

, and is also a member of the

Camberwell Grammar Camberwell Grammar School is an independent, single sex, Anglican primary and secondary day school for boys, located in Canterbury, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Camberwell Church of England Grammar School was founded ...

Aquatic Club when he trains in Melbourne. Haanappel continues to mentor young swimmers at Lilydale Swimming Club. Internationally, he mostly competes against competitors in his own classification, but domestically he competes against swimmers in all disability classes and sometimes against able bodied swimmers in club and state level competitions.

2005

Haanappel started swimming in 2005 at th
Lilydale Swimming Club
First coached by Swimming Victoria SWD Head Coach Karen Garrard and also the club's junior level coach Anne Longridge. He competed at his first competition, the 2005 Victorian Primary School Swimming Championships where he false started at his first ever race.

2006

At age 13, Matthew put his swimming on hold to move with his family to

Port Vila Port Vila ( ; ), or simply Vila (), is the capital of Vanuatu and its largest city. It is on the island of Efate, in Shefa Province. The population was 49,034 as of the 2020 census. In 2020, the population of Port Vila formed 16.3% of the ...

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

. During this time he took up

wheelchair tennis Wheelchair tennis is one of the forms of tennis Adaptive sport, adapted for wheelchair users. The size of the court, net height and rackets are the same, but there are two major differences from pedestrian tennis: athletes use specially designe ...

through the Vanuatu Paralympic Committee. Haanappel attended the Port Vila International School.

2007

Haanappel returned to Australia late in 2007.

2008

Midway through 2008, Haanappel decided to rejoin the Lilydale Swimming Club under his old coach Anne Longridge, but after a short period was promoted to the Junior and Senior State Squad under the instruction of Neil and Michael Davis. Haanappel was selected to represent Victoria at the 2008 Pacific School Games in Canberra, receiving silver and bronze medals.

2009

In 2009, Haanappel broke Australian Age Disability Records with

Swimming Australia Swimming Australia is the peak governing body for competitive swimming in Australia. The body has approximately 100,000 registered members nationally in 1100 clubs across the country, which includes swimmers, coaches, officials, administrators ...

. Haanappel was selected as the Victorian representative for the School Sport Australia Swimming Championships. Subsequently, Haanappel switched coaches to Lawrence Krauter at Lilydale Swimming Club.

2010

Haanappel competed in his first national championship in 2010 and was selected for the Australian Youth Team. At his first international trip at the 2010 Internationale Deutsche Meisterschaften in Berlin, he earned a silver medal in the 50 m Youth Butterfly. Haanappel moved in late 2010 to th
Nunawading Swimming Club
to join Amanda Isaac and Rohan Taylor at the club's

High Performance Program.

2011

As an Age competitor he had three first-place finishes, two second-place finishes and three third-place finishes at the 2011 National Age Multi-Class Championships. He travelled to Germany for his second Internationale Deutsche Meisterschaften in Berlin, achieving three gold medals.

2012

In early 2012 prior to the Paralympic Selection Trials, Haanappel trained at the

United States Olympic Training Center The United States Olympic & Paralympic Training Centers (OPTCs) are two campuses created by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) as training facilities for its Olympic and Paralympic athletes. They are located in Colorado Spr ...

in Colorado Springs alongside

Michael Phelps Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold me ...

. Haanappel swam at the 2012 Paralympic Trials, achieving three priority two selection times for the 2012 Team. He was selected for his fourth Victoria School Swimming Team in 2012, and was selected to the position of male team captain for the championships. Haanappel was the first AWD student to have held the role of Male Captain. In June 2012, Matthew was selected to represent

at the

in the 200m individual medley, 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke, 50m butterfly, the 50m freestyle events. Going into the London Games, he was ranked fourth in the world in the 50 metre freestyle event and third in the 200 metre individual medley. His training for the 2012 London Paralympics included pilates, gym sessions, pool training, and a relay training camp at the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

. At the

he won a gold medal in the Men's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay (34 points) and a bronze in the Men's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay (34 points). Towards the end of 2012, after a break from training, Haanappel returned under the coaching of Jonathan Shaw at the

University of the Sunshine Coast The University of the Sunshine Coast (UniSC; formerly abbreviated as USC until 2022) is a public university based on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia. After opening with 524 students in 1996 as the Sunshine Coast University College, it ...

2013

In 2013, Haanappel continued training at the University of the Sunshine Coast through to May when he returned to Melbourne and trained at th
DVE Aquatic Club
under the instruction of Brian Miller (coach to the Australian team for the 2011 Pan Pacific Para Swimming Championships). Haanappel was selected to the Australian Paralympic Swim Team to compete at the

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

. He won a bronze medal in the Men's 100 m Freestyle S6. In October, Haanappel moved to the Norwood Swimming Club in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

to help grow a Paralympic Swimming Program at the club.

2014

In 2014, Haanappel moved to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra to join the Swimming Australia National Training Centre. He was selected to the Australian Teams attending the Brazilian National Championships and the Pan Pacific Para Swimming Championships, where he won three Gold, two Silver and one Bronze medal. After the Paralympic Pan Pacific Championships, Haanappel returned to Melbourne to undergo surgery on his left shoulder. He did not swim the end of year's National Short Course Championships.

2015

As of 2015, Haanappel was listed as a supported athlete at the Australian Institute of Sport under Yuriy Vdovychenko, who trains in Melbourne with Ringwood Swimming Club.

2016

Haanappel contested the 2016 Australian Swimming Championships incorporating the 2016 Australian Paralympic Team Trials. He swam 50m and 100m in both Freestyle and Backstroke. He was selected to the Australian Dolphins National Swim Team and listed as an emergency for the 2016 Australian Paralympic Team. Haanappel was called up for formal selection in the 2016 Australian Paralympic Team in August after a nominated athlete was withdrawn. He was then assigned to Swimming Victoria State Team Coach, Michal Skrodzki for his preparation towards the Rio Games. At the

2016 Rio Paralympics The 2016 Summer Paralympics (), the 15th Summer Paralympic Games, were a major international multi-sport event for athletes with disabilities governed by the International Paralympic Committee, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 Sept ...

, Haanappel competed in five events. He placed sixth in Mixed 4 x 50m Freestyle (20 points), sixth in 100m Freestyle S6 and fifth in Men's 50m Freestyle S6. Before the Rio Paralympics, Haanappel said that he hoped to inspire others and "show everyone that people with disabilities can achieve things".

2018

Haanappel competed at the

in the 50 metre Freestyle S7, placing 6th. He then trained at Camberwell Grammar Aquatic under Matthew Belgiovane.

Recognition

* 2008: School Sport Victoria AWD Award * 2010: ''Leader'' Junior Sports Star Encouragement Award * 2012: ''Leader'' Senior Sports Star of the Year * 2012: School Sport Victoria Swimming Award * 2012: School Sport Victoria Outstanding Sporting Achievement Award * 2012: Victorian Young Achievers Award for Sporting Excellence * 2014:

Order of Australia Medal The Order of Australia is an Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of then ...

following London 2012 Paralympic Games

Personal bests

References

External links

* * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Haanappel, Matthew 1994 births Living people Male Paralympic swimmers for Australia Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Paralympic gold medalists for Australia Paralympic bronze medalists for Australia Australian male freestyle swimmers Australian male backstroke swimmers Victorian Institute of Sport alumni S6-classified para swimmers Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Paralympic medalists in swimming Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Swimmers from Melbourne People from Croydon, Victoria Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Sportsmen from Victoria (state) 21st-century Australian sportsmen Swimmers at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games swimmers for Australia