Matthew Richards (born 17 December 2002) is a British

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 ...

. Richards swam the third leg of the gold-medal winning Great Britain 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics, the first British team to win the event since 1908. Previously, he had won two silver medals in team freestyle relays at the

European Championships The European Championships is a multi-sport tournament which brings together the existing European Championships of some of the continent's leading sports every four years. The inaugural edition in 2018 was staged by the host cities of Berlin, ...

Early life

Matt Richards was born in

Droitwich Droitwich Spa (often abbreviated to Droitwich ) is an historic spa town in the Wychavon district in northern Worcestershire, England, on the River Salwarpe. It is located approximately south-west of Birmingham and north-east of Worcester. The ...

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Englan ...

, England, to Amanda and Simon Richards. He started swimming when he was five years old at Droitwich Leisure Centre, and joined the Droitwich Dolphins Swimming Club when he was eight, later moving to Worcester Swimming Club aged ten. He played other sports such as

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

and

tae kwon do ''Taekwondo'', ''Tae Kwon Do'' or ''Taekwon-Do'' (; ko, 태권도/跆拳道 ) is a Korean martial arts, Korean form of martial arts involving punching and kicking techniques, with emphasis on head-height kicks, spinning jump kicks, and fast k ...

but gave them up to concentrate on swimming. He was a student at

Bishop Perowne Church of England College Bishop Perowne CE College is a Church of England secondary school with academy status located in Worcester, Worcestershire, England. It is a co-educational school, with a capacity of 1,050 pupils aged between 11 and 16. The school is a specia ...

Career

Although born in England, Richards represented Wales as his father was born there. He broke the Welsh records in 100 and 200 metre freestyle. He became the junior champion in 100 m freestyle at the

2019 European Junior Swimming Championships The 2019 European Junior Swimming Championships (50 m) were held from 3 to 7 July 2019 in Kazan, Russia at the Palace of Water Sports. The Championships were organized by LEN, the European Swimming League, and were held in a 50-meter pool. The Cham ...

held in

Kazan Kazan ( ; rus, Казань, p=kɐˈzanʲ; tt-Cyrl, Казан, ''Qazan'', IPA: ɑzan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan in Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka rivers, covering a ...

. He competed in the men's 100 metre freestyle event at the

2020 European Aquatics Championships The 2020 European Aquatics Championships (also known as the 2021 European Aquatics Championships; 35th) were scheduled to take place in Budapest, Hungary, from 11 to 24 May 2020. However, on 5 May it was announced that the event had been postpon ...

, in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

, Hungary, and won two silver as part of the British team in the men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle and 4 × 200 metre freestyle relays. He was also part of the team that won gold in 4×100 m mixed freestyle, although he swam in the heats and did not swim in the finals. At the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

, he was in the men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay together with James Guy, Duncan Scott, and Tom Dean. He swam the third leg in 1 minute 45.01 seconds, a performance that helped the team win gold with a time of six minutes 58.58 seconds. The gold is Britain's first in 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay at the Olympics since 1908. Richards was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(MBE) in the

2022 New Year Honours The 2022 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrations ...

for services to swimming.

References

External links

Matt Richards
website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Matthew 2002 births Living people British male swimmers British male freestyle swimmers Place of birth missing (living people) European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists in swimming Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Members of the Order of the British Empire World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Olympic swimmers of Great Britain Swimmers at the 2022 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Wales 21st-century British people People from Droitwich Spa Sportspeople from Worcestershire English people of Welsh descent