The Australian S9 swimmer announced himself on the world stage at the age of 16 when he took three gold medals, two bronze medals and two silver medals at the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, before going on to take five gold and three silver in Beijing four years later.

The 24-year-old from Adelaide added a further five gold medals, along with two bronze and one silver at London 2012 to become the most successful Australian Paralympian of all time, with 23 medals to his name.

"I am extremely excited to be joining the Speedo team as an ambassador." said Cowdrey

"In my younger years as a swimmer I looked up to Speedo Ambassadors at the time, such as Kieren Perkins and Grant Hackett, and it is an honour to be following in their footsteps.

Matt Cowdrey, who became Australia's most-decorated Paralympian at London 2012, has become the latest brand ambassador for Speedo

"I have always trained hard to achieve the best results possible, and it is a huge boost of confidence to have a global brand like Speedo partnering with me over the coming years."

Vice-President of Product and Marketing at Speedo International, Sean Hastings, said: "We're delighted to welcome Matt to the Speedo team.

"His competitive performance on swimming's world stage makes him one of the most well-respected swimmers in the pool today.

"Matt demonstrates that you can achieve anything you put your mind to."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


Related stories
September 2012: Australian aquatics centre named in honour of country's greatest Paralympian Cowdrey