Rick Pendleton, OAM (born 12 January 1985) is an Australian Paralympic swimmer from Sydney. He was born without his left hand. He turned to swimming after his rugby league career was ended by a knee ligament injury. He attended high school at Marcellin College Randwick.He has won five Paralympic gold medals. He won a gold medal at the 2004 Athens Games in the Men's 4x100 m Medley 34 pts event, and two gold medals in the 2008 Beijing games, at the Men's 4x100 m Medley 34 pts and Men's 200 m Individual Medley SM10 events. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics he won a bronze medal in the Men's 4 x 100 m medley relay 34 pts and a bronze medal in the Men's 200 m Individual Medley SM10.In 2009, he received a Medal of the Order of Australia for his 2008 gold medals. He was an Australian Institute of Sport paralympic swimming scholarship holder.At the 2006 IPC Swimming World Championships in Durban, South Africa he won a silver medal in the 200m individual medley and bronze in the 100m breaststroke.In 2011, at the age of 26, he competed in the Can-Am Swimming Open, where he earned a gold medal in the S10 200m butterfly event, a silver medal in the men’s SM10 200 m individual medley, and a bronze in the 100m freestyle event.He works as a swimming coach at Matthew Flinders Anglican College's Flinders Swim Club.
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