Achievements
Rick Pendleton is no stranger to competing on the world stage. The four-time Paralympian and three-time Paralympic gold medallist starting swimming at the age 10 and first competed in 1998. Pendleton made his Dolphins debut in 2002 at the IPC Swimming World Championships in Mar del Plata. Pendleton won his first international medal at the 2004 Athens Paralympic Games, where he won gold as part of the 4x100m Medley Relay (34 points). Pendleton repeated this achievement at the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games when he won gold in 4x100m Medley Relay (34 points) and his first individual Paralympic gold in the 200m Individual Medley – a feat he claims as his favourite sporting moment.
Pendleton took a break from the pool after Beijing, before returning to competition in 2011. He took home two bronze medals at the 2012 London Paralympics in the 200m Individual Medley and 4x100m Medley Relay (34 points). He returned to the Paralympic stage for a fourth appearance at Rio in 2016. Seventeen years since his Dolphins debut, Rick will don the green and gold again in London at the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships.
Paralympic Games
Athens, Greece 2004
- Won gold in the Men’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay 34 points
- Finished 3rd in the heat of the Men’s 100m Backstroke (S10)
- Finished 4th in the Men’s 200m Individual Medley (SM10)
- Finished 6th in the Men’s 100m Butterfly (S10)
- Finished 7th in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke (SB9)
Beijing, China 2008
- Won gold in the Men’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay 34 points
- Won gold in the Men’s 200m Individual Medley (SM10)
- Finished 4th in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke (SB9)
- Finished 6th in the Men’s 100m Butterfly (S10)
London, United Kingdom 2012
- Won bronze in the Men’s 200m Individual Medley SM10
- Won bronze in the Men’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay 34 points
- Finished 5th in the Men’s 100m Butterfly (S10)
- Finished 5th in the Men’s 100m Freestyle (S10)
- Finished 5th in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke (SB9)
- Finished 6th in the Men’s 50m Freestyle (S10)
Rio, Brazil 2016
- Finished 4th in the Men’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay 34 points
- Finished 5th in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke (SB9)
World Para Swimming Championships
Durban, South Africa 2006
- Won gold in the Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay 34 points
- Won silver in the Men’s 200m Individual Medley (SM10)
- Won bronze in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke (SB9)
- Finished 10th in the Men’s 100m Butterfly (S10)
- Finished 11th in the Men’s 100m Backstroke (S10)
- Finished 12th in the Men’s 100m Freestyle (S10)
- Finished 15th in the Men’s 50m Freestyle (S10)
Mar del Plata, Argentina 2002
- Finished 4th in the Men’s 200m Individual Medley SM10
- Finished 5th in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke SB9
- Finished 9th in the Men’s 100m Butterfly S10
- Finished 9th in the Men’s 100m Backstroke S10
Montreal, Canada 2013
- Finished 4th in the Men’s 4 x 100m Medley Relay 34 points
- Finished 5th in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke (SB9)
- Finished 5th in the Men’s 200m Individual Medley (SM10)
- Finished 8th in the Men’s 100m Butterfly (S10)
- Finished 12th in the Men’s 100m Freestyle (S10)
Glasgow, Scotland 2015
- Won bronze in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke (SB9)
- Finished 4th in the Men’s 100m Medley 34 points
- Finished 5th in the Men’s 200m Individual Medley (SM10)
- Finished 9th in the Men’s 100m Butterfly (S10)
- Finished 11th in the Men’s 50m Freestyle (S10)
London, England 2019
- Placed 4th in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke (SB9)
- Placed 7th in the Men’s 200m Individual Medley (SM10)

In The Pool
Paralympic Games
World Para Swimming Championships
Get to know Rick
- What's your favourite swimming memory?
- What's on your pre-race playlist?
- What's your ambition post swimming?
- Three words that best describe me
- What are your hobbies away from swimming?
- What's something interesting about you that people don't know?
Beijing 200 Paralympics - winning a gold medal in the 200m individual medley.
I don't listen to music before races - I know a lot of athletes do though!
To be a swimming coach and getting one of my swimmers onto a national team.
Focussed
Easy going
Determined
I like playing golf and watching movies.
I have been on the Australian swim team for half my life.