Matt Wilson, a former Australian swimming star and world record holder, recently announced his retirement on Instagram, officially ending his more than ten-year competitive swimming career. Despite leaving the arena, Wilson said he hopes to continue to participate in and support the sport that has given him so much in other ways in the future.
“I hope to continue to help as much as I can in swimming events, a sport that has given me so much,” he wrote in the post.
Wilson, 28, admitted that the injuries that have plagued him for a long time are the main reason for his decision to retire. He said that although he had overcome injuries and returned to the arena many times in the past, as he got older, the difficulty of recovery and competition was increasing.
“I have been fighting injuries throughout my career, and I have been able to return to the arena every time, but over time, it has become increasingly difficult to reach the level of competing with the world’s top players. Ideally, I would have hoped to hit a Commonwealth Games and the Olympics, but life is not always ideal.”
One of the most impressive moments of Wilson’s career came at the 2019 Gwangju World Swimming Championships. At that time, he swam 2 minutes 06.67 seconds in the men’s 200m breaststroke semi-finals, tying the world record held by Japanese player Watanabe Ippei. Although this record was broken by Russian player Chupkov in the final, Wilson still won the silver medal with a score of 2 minutes 06.68 seconds.
In addition to his individual performance, he also won the gold medal as a member of the Australian mixed 4×100m medley relay team at the 2019 World Championships, and won the silver medal in this event twice in the 2017 and 2022 World Championships.
At the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021, Wilson represented Australia and won the 14th place in the men’s 100m breaststroke and the 22nd place in the 200m breaststroke.
In his retirement statement, Wilson thanked everyone who supported him during his career. He specifically mentioned his coach Adam Kable, who has been working with him since he was 13 years old. He also thanked the NSW Institute of Sport, SOPAC Swim Team and Springwood Swim Club, and expressed deep gratitude to his family and girlfriend.
“Without the sacrifices they made, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Getting up at 3.45am every day to go to training is worth it in the end.”
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