Matt Richards MBE

Matt fell in love with swimming at an early age on holiday with his family. He joined his local swimming club at 8 years old and swimming at his school and club swimming led him to the World School Games, and the European Junior Championships 2019, where he became European Junior Champion.

The COVID-19 pandemic threatened to derail Matt’s progress but some creative thinking enabled Matt to remain training when others could not and he later joined the Bath National Centre as part of the elite return to training protocol. The year delay of the Tokyo Olympics enabled further development which resulted in Matt performing well in the British Championships and making the Team GB team. Matt swam the third leg helping the team win gold, the first Team GB gold medal in the 4 x 200m freestyle relay at the Olympics since 1908. 2022 saw Matt move coaches and his training, he went on to become Double World Champion in the individual 200m freestyle and part of the 4 x 200m freestyle relay team in Fukuoka in July 2023. Bring on the Paris Olympics 2024…

Matt was part of the Department of Education media and social media campaign aimed at communicating to teenagers the importance of regular testing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Matt speaks about his journey to date, the importance of a Change Mindset, Growth Mindset, Seizing the moment and working as an individual but also part of a team.

To book Matt Richards, contact The Speakers Agency on +44(0)1332 810481 or email enquiries@thespeakersagency.com.