Matthew Klotz

Matthew Klotz (born 24 May 1996) is an American male deaf swimmer who represents United States at the Deaflympics and other international events including the Deaf World Championships.[1][2] He is a world record holder in swimming for deaf and is considered one of the finest deaf swimmers to represent USA after the retirements of Marcus Titus and Reed Gershwind.[3]

Matthew Klotz
Personal information
National team United States
Born24 May 1996
Sport
SportSwimming

Career

He came to limelight after taking part at the 2013 Summer Deaflympics which was held in Bulgaria, claiming 2 gold medals in 100m backstroke and in 200m backstroke events along with a bronze in the 400m individual medley category. He continued his Deaflympic career success with a medal haul of 5 including 3 gold medals in 50m, 100m as well as in 200m backstroke events during the 2017 Summer Deaflympics.[1][4]

He notably shattered two deaf world records during the 2018 US National Swimming Championship including his own established record in men's 50m backstroke event which he achieved it at the 2017 Summer Deaflympics with a timing of 26.26 seconds, which was his previous record.[5][6][7] He managed to re-establish his own world record in 50m backstroke with a timing of 19.77 seconds and became first ever deaf swimmer to swim 50m backyard within 20 seconds.[8] He also broke the deaf world record in the men's 50m freestyle event clocking 23.14 seconds surpassing fellow veteran US national Marcus Titus record of 23.34 seconds.[9][10] He is also a national record holder in 200m freestyle, 500m freestyle, 100m backstroke and in 200m backstroke categories.

In December 2018, was awarded the ICSD Deaf Sportsman of the Year by International Committee of Sports for the Deaf for his outstanding performances at deaf sporting events including the world records that he set in both 50m backstroke and 50m freestyle events.[11][12][13][14] He was qualified to compete at the 2019 ICSD World Deaf Swimming Championships which will be held in São Paulo, Brazil.[15][16]

References
  1. "Matthew James KLOTZ". deaflympics.com. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  2. "Matt Klotz Bio". LSUsports.net. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  3. "Matthew Klotz Breaks 2 More Deaf Swimming Records at SEC Championships". SwimSwam. 2019-03-07. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  4. "Matthew Klotz Wins 3rd Gold of 2017 Deaflympics". SwimSwam. 2017-07-25. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  5. "Matt Klotz Breaks World Record At Deaflympics For Team USA". SwimSwam. 2017-07-20. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  6. "Matthew Klotz Breaks 2 Deaf World Records at US Nationals". SwimSwam. 2018-07-31. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  7. "Matthew Klotz 1 of 4 World Record Breakers at Deaflympics Day 3". SwimSwam. 2017-07-22. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  8. "Matt Klotz of LSU Sets Deaf World Record". Swimming World News. 2018-11-14. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  9. "LSU's Matthew Klotz Re-Breaks American Deaf Swimming Record in 50 Free". SwimSwam. 2018-11-14. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  10. "Klotz Sets Two WR's as LSU Swimmers Excel in Nationals". LSUsports.net. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  11. "Matthew Klotz". ciss.org. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  12. "LSU Swimmer Matthew Klotz Named ICSD Sportsman of the Year". SwimSwam. 2018-12-22. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  13. "Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year for the Deaf". ciss.org. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  14. "Matthew Klotz (swimming) named ICSD Sportsman of the Year, capping off record year". USA Deaf Sports Federation. 2018-12-22. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  15. "USA Deaf Swimming Selects Coaches for 2019 World Championships". SwimSwam. 2019-03-07. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
  16. "USA Deaf Swimming : News". www.teamunify.com. Retrieved 2019-04-01.
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