Matthew RichardsMBE (born 17 December 2002) is a British
swimmer specialising in 100 and 200 metre freestyle, active internationally from 2020. He won the gold medal in the
200 metre freestyle at 2023 World Aquatics Championships, Olympic gold in the 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics and World gold in the same event at the 2023 World Championships.
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.[1] In 2023 he won the British Championships in the 200 metres for the first time, holding off Olympic champion
Tom Dean, former World Champion
James Guy and multiple Olympic and World medalist
Duncan Scott, all teammates from the 2020 relay squad. In July 2023, Richards again held off Dean as well as defending World champion
David Popovici to win the gold medal in the 2023 World Championships, before following up with gold in the men's 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay and bronze in the mixed 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay.
Early life
Matt Richards was born in
Droitwich,
Worcester, England, to Amanda and Simon Richards.[2][3] 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 and
tae kwon do but gave them up to concentrate on swimming.[4] He was a student at
Bishop Perowne Church of England College.[5]
Career
Although born in England, Richards represented Wales as his father was born there.[citation needed] He broke the Welsh records in 100 and 200 metre freestyle.[6] He became the junior champion in 100 m freestyle at the
2019 European Junior Swimming Championships held in
Kazan.[7]