William Martin began swimming as a form of rehabilitation after he suffered a stroke in 2007, and he quickly fell in love with the sport. He began swimming competitively in 2010, proving himself as a talented butterfly swimmer. The Sunshine Coast native currently trains under David Proud at Nudgee College Swim Club.

William made his mark at the 2019 Australian Swimming Championships, going on to make his international debut at the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships.

At the 2021 Australian Swimming Trials, he blitzed the world record for the Men’s 100m Butterfly (S9) with a time of 57.73 to secure his place on the Australian Tokyo 2020 Team.

Will made a sensational Paralympic debut in the pool at Tokyo 2020, claiming three gold medals and one silver medal.

He secured his first gold medal men’s 400m freestyle S9, stamping his name into the history books with a Paralympic record of …

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Date of birth
22 November 2000
Sport
Para-swimming
Past Paralympic Games

Tokyo 2020

Residence
Virginia, QLD
Occupation
Learn to Swim teacher; casual labourer
Started competing
2010
First competed for Australia
2019
Sport career highlights

Swimming in the finals for the S10 100 m butterfly at the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships and placing 5th

Greatest sporting moments

Will Genia scoring to winning try for the Queensland Reds at the 2011 Super Rugby Final

Heroes/role models

Australian Rugby Union player, Chris Latham and Australian cricketer Andrew Symonds

Favourite quote
"It ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward" - Rocky

Disciplines

  • Sport: Para-swimming Discipline: 100m Butterfly, 50m Butterfly, 400m Freestyle, 4x100m Freestyle 34 points, 4x100m Medley 34 points Classification: S9, SB9, SM9

Social Media

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