(2015 ☆ ARCHIVED) Markus Swoboda - Austria

MARKUS SWOBODA (Austria) - Nominee for 'Sportsman of the Year.'

Facebook: www.facebook.com/m.m.swoboda

• Born: 1990, Discipline: KL2 200m (Formally known as Trunk & Arms), Represents: Austria
• 2011-2015: World Champion KL2 200m &  European Champion KL2 200m
• 2010: World Champion KL2 200m.

Markus Mendy Swoboda has a resume some athletes can only dream of. The 25-year old from Austria has six World Championship titles to his name and is therefore the hot favourite in his classification going into the 2016 Paralympic Games.

Since paracanoe’s debut at the 2010 World Championships in Poland, Markus has a clean record of World Championship gold medals in his category, KL2 200m. Adding to this, he has also won five European Championships in the same class.

As the competition gets tougher, Markus responds well.  At the 2015 World Championships he was beaten for the first time in his Heat by Australian Curtis McGrath, but he was able to turn the tables around in the all important final where he put together a near perfect race. Markus won the title in 42.542s, 0.643s ahead of Mcgrath.

Following the World Championships Markus travelled to Rio de Janeiro for the Paralympic test event where he and McGrath had another opportunity to go head-to-head. Markus again took like honours over McGrath in a display he hopes to replicate at next years Paralympics, where he has the opportunity to become the first KL2 200 Paralympic champion.

At age 7 Markus lost both of his legs in a tragic wood chip heating accident. Despite this he took up kayaking at just 10 years old and has not looked back. He competed against able body athletes for many years where he was able to hold his own. He went on to win numerous Austrian National titles and qualify for the 2007 Junior World Championships in Belgrade where he ended up in 12th in the K4 1000m. There were several consecutve years where Markus and his K2 partner were unbeaten in Austria.

Activities & Achievements on and off the water:

• ​Chemistry Student 

This is a 2015 archived nominee. Voting has closed.