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“I’ll figure it out.”
That’s the attitude that carried Century 21 agent Matt Torres to the 2024 Paris Paralympics, where he earned a bronze medal for USA Swimming in the mixed 4 x 100-meter freestyle relay. Torres, 23, also brought home several gold and bronze medals in the 2019 Pan Am Games, 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and 2021 U.S. Paralympics National Championships in multiple events, including 400-meter and 1500-meter freestyle.
Torres (far left) and the US Paraswimming team after the medaling ceremony | Photos courtesy of Matt Torres
Torres was born with amniotic band syndrome, a disorder that stems from damage to the inner membrane of the amniotic sac during pregnancy. The bands of the sac wrap around the fetus and lead to underdeveloped arms, legs, fingers, or toes, and occurs in 1 in 1,200 to 1 in 15,000 live births. Torres experienced a more severe case of the syndrome, which led him to be born with half of a right leg and four fingers on each hand.
“It’s been something that I’ve been used to since birth,” he told Inman while boarding the flight to Paris. “I haven’t really let it stop me in any sort of way. I’ve always figured out the way to get through all different obstacles and do all sorts of different things. I’ve just always been a guy that’s been able to find a solution to things one way or another.”
The C21 agent said his swimming journey started after watching Michael Phelps win eight gold medals and set seven world records at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. He was enamored with the way Phelps tore through the water, leading the then-seven-year-old to tell his parents he’d be a gold medal swimmer one day.
“It’s a little bit of a long story,” he said with a laugh. “I have, like, so many different twists and turns throughout my career.”
Torres spent his early years training and competing alongside swimmers without disabilities in school and club teams; however, he discovered para-swimming in high school after a friend mentioned they knew an adaptive training coach. Curious, Torres began adaptive training through the Hospital for Special Care in New Britain, Connecticut, once a week alongside his regular training schedule.
“I was still doing all of the training and practices that everyone else was doing,” he said. “There would just be some modifications here and there for stuff like kick sets or just things that were more leg-dominant that I just wasn’t able to completely perform.”
“But, there was nothing that I really couldn’t do,” he added. “It was just more so modified just to make things a little bit simpler and to a manner that I could still do them and get useful training out of it.”
Photos courtesy of Matt Torres
Torres began winning regional adaptive swimming meets and soon set his sights on national and international competitions at the suggestion of a former U.S. Paralympic swimming director.
In 2019, Torres went to his first Pan Am Games in Lima, Peru, and won two gold and four bronze — making him the most decorated swimmer for the U.S. team. In 2020, he swam in the Tokyo Paralympics 1,500-meter freestyle and broke the world record for that event. Torres then competed in the 2022 and 2023 World Paraswimming World Championships; overcoming an injury in 2023 to qualify for the 2024 Paris Paralympics.
“Overall, people with disabilities and adaptations, I would say we’re definitely very determined,” he said. “Once we set our hearts and minds on a particular goal, we’re going to go after it. And, we’re going to do everything we can to not let whatever impairment we have stop us.”
Although the Paralympics ended on Sunday, Torres is staying in France to prepare for the Open Water Cup in Sardinia, Italy. Between training sessions, he’s still making time for work as his real estate team, C21 Scala Group, continues to root for him stateside.
Torres said he hopes his story helps people without disabilities understand that people with disabilities don’t need their pity — they need their support in creating a more adaptable and accessible world.
“If there’s something that could be seen as an obstacle, help come up with solutions to make things more adaptable for the person,” he said. “I mean, [a disability] it doesn’t mean someone can’t go and do certain things; they just may have to take another means to achieve the same outcome or goal. Just work with that person to come up with a proper solution, and then let them go ahead and go after their dreams.”
