Michael Prout is an American

Paralympic The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

swimmer.

Early life and education

Prout is a son of Michael and Patricia Prout and has a sister named Taryn. Prout graduated with honours from

St Marys Senior High School St Marys Senior High School is a government-funded co-educational dual modality partially academically selective and comprehensive post-compulsory secondary day school, located in St Marys, a suburb in western Sydney, New South Wales, Aust ...

and in 2009 he graduated from

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the ...

Athletic career

In 2002 Prout won first place in all swimming competitions at National Disability Championships, held at

Federal Way Federal Way is a city in King County, Washington, United States and part of the Seattle metropolitan area. One of the most recently incorporated cities in the county, its population was 101,030 at the 2020 census. Federal Way is the 10th most p ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

. The next year he won first place for the 100, 200, and 400 metre freestyle swims at Canadian Open Swim,

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada. In 2004 Prout participated in the

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disability, disabilities. There are Winter Paralympic Games, Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

where he won two medals, one of which was

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

. In 2005 he won a gold medal for 400m freestyle, which was held at U.S. Paralympics Open Swimming Championships in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. In 2006 he got fourth place three times in a row at the 2006 IPC Swimming World Championships, but next year, won eight medals at

Parapan American Games The Parapan American Games is an international multi-sport event for athletes with physical disabilities held every four years after every Pan American Games. The first Games were held in 1999 in Mexico City, Mexico. The 2003 Parapan American Ga ...

. In 2007 Prout won four gold for 100 m backstroke, the same for freestyle, 200 m individual medley and 400 metre freestyle. The same year he also won three

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

s for 50 metre freestyle, 100 m butterfly, and 400 metre freestyle relay. The same year he won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...

for 400 m medley relay at Parapan American Games, at

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. In 2008 he led an American record for 200 metre freestyle at Can-Am Championships which was held at

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

. Three years later he won another gold medal for 100 metre backstroke, a silver for 400 metre, and bronze for 200 metre individual medley. He worked for

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010. Colorado Springs is the second-most populous c ...

Olympic Training Center Olympic Training Center may refer to: *United States Olympic Training Center * Olympic Training Center (Rio de Janeiro) *Olympic Training Center Velodrome The Olympic Training Center Velodrome, also known as the 7-11 Velodrome, is a velodrome in ...

where in 2012 he met with former US President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

. He now coaches the Simmons University Swim and Dive team.

References

1986 births Living people Sportspeople from Springfield, Massachusetts University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni Paralympic swimmers for the United States Paralympic bronze medalists for the United States Paralympic gold medalists for the United States Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Paralympics American male backstroke swimmers American male butterfly swimmers American male freestyle swimmers American male medley swimmers Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Paralympic medalists in swimming Medalists at the 2007 Parapan American Games Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships S9-classified para swimmers 21st-century American sportsmen Parapan American Games medalists in swimming Parapan American Games gold medalists for the United States Parapan American Games silver medalists for the United States {{US-Paralympic-medalist-stub