CABRAJA Matthew

Date of Birth: 10 May 2002

Age: 19

Gender: Male

Sport Class: S11

Place of birth: BRAMPTON, ON

Birth Country:

Canada

Events and Medals
Records
Schedule
Bio
General Interest
Milestones

Events and Medals

Discipline	Event	Rank	Medal
Swimming	Men's 50m Freestyle - S11
	Men's 400m Freestyle - S11	7
	Men's 100m Backstroke - S11
	Men's 100m Butterfly - S11	5

Schedule

Start Time	Location	Event	Status
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Men's 400m Freestyle - S11 Heat 1	Finished
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Men's 400m Freestyle - S11 Final	Finished
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Men's 50m Freestyle - S11 Heat 2	Finished
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Men's 100m Backstroke - S11 Heat 2	Finished
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Men's 100m Butterfly - S11 Heat 2	Finished
	Tokyo Aquatics Centre	Men's 100m Butterfly - S11 Final	Finished

Biographical Information

Highlights

Rank	Event	Year	Location	Result
World Championships
11	50m Freestyle - S11	2019	London, GBR	27.95
11	100m Backstroke - S11	2019	London, GBR	1:16.41
12	100m Freestyle - S11	2019	London, GBR	1:03.62
12	400m Freestyle - S11	2019	London, GBR	5:05.14
12	200m Individual Medley - SM11	2019	London, GBR	2:48.71

Playing guitar. (swimontario.com, 21 May 2020)

Occupation:

Mathematics - University of Toronto, Canada

Languages spoken:

COBRA Swim Club [Brampton, ON, CAN]

Ian Roopnarine [club]

Sporting relatives:

His sister Victoria Cabraja has also swum for the COBRA Swim Club and competed in the sport at regional and university level in Canada. (swimming.ca, 07 Feb 2020; collegeswimming.com, 02 Jul 2017)

He learnt to swim as a young boy. After losing his vision, the club he was a member of could not accommodate visually impaired athletes, so he joined the COBRA Swim Club in 2012. "They've been like my second family. They've been completely supportive of everything I've done so far. Giving a blind swimmer a lane when he can barely stay in that lane is pretty tough, but we worked through it together and it's just the best community around." (torontoobserver.ca, 05 Apr 2019)

"Being a member of COBRA has taught me a lot of things. One of the things is that it gives me something to do, and if I wasn't doing swimming, I wouldn't push myself to do other things. But, swimming opened my eyes to the fact that everything is possible, and if I really want to do something, there's no reason I can't do it." (bramptonguardian.com, 07 Jun 2018)

To compete at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. He also aspires to work in the field of artificial intelligence. (torontoobserver.ca, 05 Apr 2019; swimontario.com, 21 May 2020)

His parents and coach Ian Roopnarine. (torontoobserver.ca, 05 Apr 2019)

In 2020 he received a COBRA Swim Club Special Recognition Award. (COBRA Swim Club Facebook page, 28 Nov 2020)

In 2017 he received a COBRA Swim Club Special Achievement Award. (bramptonguardian.com, 07 Jun 2018)

In 2016 he received a Brampton Citizen Award for Sport Achievement. (bramptonguardian.com, 07 Jun 2018)

General Interest

Classification
S11, SB11, SM11 (IPC, 16 Mar 2021)

Type of Impairment
Vision impairment (bramptonguardian.com, 07 Jun 2018)

Origin of Impairment
Acquired (bramptonguardian.com, 07 Jun 2018)

Impairment Details
He was born blind in his left eye and lost his vision in his right eye at age nine after surgery was unable to correct a retinal detachment and cataracts. "My life changed for good. It was a shock, a new reality and I was never going to have vision. It was starting a life all over again, re-adjusting and modifying my lifestyle." (swimontario.com, 21 May 2020; bramptonguardian.com, 07 Jun 2018; YouTube, 30 Apr 2015)

Social Media

https://www.facebook.com/matthew.cabraja

Legend

:: Gold Medal Event
:: Silver Medal Event
:: Bronze Medal Event

Timing and scoring provided by OMEGA. Results powered by Atos