Matthew Torres

Started: He began swimming at age seven in 2008, and within a year he took part in his first competition with the Westport Weston Family YMCA Water Rat Swim Team. (nbcconnecticut.com, 04 Aug 2021; teamusa.org, 05 Dec 2019; livingwithamplitude.com, 01 Sep 2019; blog.ctnews.com, 17 Feb 2015) Reason: He was inspired to take up the sport after watching US swimmer Michael Phelps compete at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. "He was breaking all those records and getting medals left and right. I basically told my parents that I wanted to be like Michael, and from there we started looking around to see what was available. I always loved the water when I was little, and I always struggled with land sports, so I guess maybe that's what pushed me in that direction." (nbcconnecticut.com, 04 Aug 2021; ctpost.com, 28 Jun 2021; livingwithamplitude.com, 01 Sep 2019; teamusa.org, 05 Dec 2019) Ambition: To win a gold medal at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (JP Productions YouTube channel, 13 Jun 2022) Additional Info: PERSISTENCE He competed in the US Paralympic Trials ahead of the 2016 Paralympic Games, but did not make the squad. However, after the trials he was assured by Queenie Nichols, then director of US Paralympics Swimming, that he had a realistic chance to compete at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. "So from then on, that was my focus. Even at the 2016 trials I was telling myself not to worry about it, not to pressure myself because 2016 was not going to be my year, but I knew I had 2020 coming up." (teamusa.org, 05 Dec 2019) OTHER SPORTS PRIOR TO SWIMMING He had played other sports as a child - including baseball and football - before discovering swimming. "I'd tried out other sports before, briefly, just for fun. But with baseball, for example, I knew that running around the bases wouldn't be easy for me because running in general doesn't fit well for me. Soccer, same kind of thing, and then there's keeping control of the ball. But when it comes to swimming, you don't have that issue. The movements are natural for me. I knew I'd probably have a better chance of succeeding at swimming than at any other sport." (teamusa.org, 05 Dec 2019)