// Workers AI · dad joke modeIs Matt Formston a good builder? Form-ally yes.
 2016 Australian Paralympic team portrait | ||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Formo | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | 21 July 1978[1] | |||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||
| Disability | Visual impairment | |||||||||||||||||
| Club | Central Coast | |||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||
Matthew Grant Formston AM (born 21 July 1978) is an Australian para-athlete. He is legally blind as a result of macular dystrophy, a degenerative eye condition diagnosed in childhood, and has competed internationally in both para-cycling and para-surfing. Formston won ten Australian national para-cycling titles between 2011 and 2016 and represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games, before moving into competitive para-surfing, where he has won four world titles. In 2022 he set a Guinness World Record for the largest wave surfed by a male in the IS2 visually impaired classification. Alongside his sporting career he has worked as a senior executive at Optus and as a public speaker. He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 2025.
Early and personal life
[edit]Formston was born in Sydney, New South Wales.[citation needed] When he was five years old, he was diagnosed with macular dystrophy, a condition affecting the retina that left him with no central vision and only a small amount of peripheral vision.[2] He has three children with his wife Bex.[3]
Career
[edit]Formston represented Australia in tandem para-cycling from 2011 to 2016, riding in the B classification for athletes with vision impairment. Over that period he won ten Australian national titles and two medals at UCI Para-cycling World Championships, and set a world record in the men's 4000 m individual pursuit B.[4]
In 2013, Formston and pilot Michael Curran won the men's tandem road race at the UCI Para-cycling Road World Cup Finals in Matane, Canada.[5]
At the 2014 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Aguascalientes, Mexico, Formston and Curran set a world record of 4:11.213 in the 4 km tandem pursuit, and went on to win the gold medal in a time of 4:13.105.[6][7]
At the 2015 UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, Formston and Curran finished second in the tandem 4 km pursuit, earning a silver medal.[8]
Formston represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in tandem track cycling with pilot Nick Yallouris, finishing fifth in the 4000 m individual pursuit B and sixth in the 1000 m time trial B.[4] He retired from competitive cycling shortly after the Games.[4]
After retiring from cycling, Formston moved into competitive para-surfing, competing in the visually impaired division. He won the visually impaired division at the 2017 ISA World Adaptive Surfing Championship in San Diego, California,[9] won gold in the AS-VI division at the 2018 Stance ISA World Adaptive Surfing Championship at La Jolla,[10] and won the Men's Visually Impaired 2 division at the 2020 AmpSurf ISA World Para Surfing Championship.[11]
Formston won the Partial Vision Impairment division of the 2022 Association of Adaptive Surfing Professionals (AASP) Championship Tour, topping the final rankings across the tour's Hawaii and US Open events.[12] He has also won his division at the Hawaii Adaptive Surfing Championships in 2017, 2018 and 2022,[13][14][15] and at the US Open Adaptive Surfing Championships in 2017 and 2023.[16][17]
On 30 November 2022, Formston surfed a 15.48-metre (50.80 ft) wave at Nazaré in Portugal, setting a Guinness World Record for the largest wave surfed by a male in the IS2 visually impaired classification.[18][19]
Formston received the Heavy Water Award at the 2022 Australian Surfing Awards, presented in February 2023.[20]
Other activities
[edit]Formston works at Optus, where he is Head of Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility for Optus Business.[4] In 2021, Formston was elected inaugural Chair of Surfing Australia's Para-Surfing Council, a body created to foster input from the para-surfing community and identify priority initiatives for the sport in Australia.[21] He is also a member of the Evidence Advisory Committee for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), appointed by the Australian Government to provide advice on the suitability of disability supports for NDIS funding.[22] Formston is a company director and executive coach, and a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.[23]
Formston has served as a director on the board of Blind Sports NSW.[24]
Surfing in the Dark, a children's picture book featuring Formston that integrates braille alongside printed text, was created and published by Vision Australia and Berbay Publishing as the first title in the Big Visions series. It was launched at the Melbourne Museum in June 2024.[25]
In 2026 Formston published Why Not?: Breaking Limits in Sport, Business and Life, in which he sets out eight personal standards drawn from his sporting and business career.[23]
Formston is the subject of the 2024 documentary The Blind Sea, directed by Daniel Fenech, which had its world premiere at the Sydney Film Festival in June 2024 before a national cinema release in August 2024 and subsequently streaming on Netflix.[26][27]
In 2024, Formston was named a finalist for the Blind Australian of the Year Award.[28]
Honours and achievements
[edit]Formston was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2025 Australia Day Honours for "significant service to people with disability and to para sports".[29][30][31]
References
[edit]- 1 2 "Cycling Australia > High Performance > Rider Profiles > Male > Matthew Formston". 23 September 2015. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
- ↑ "Blind surfer Matt Formston: conquering the world's biggest waves". France 24. AFP. 12 December 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
- ↑ Formston, Matt; Formston, Rebecca; Scott, Kellie (30 August 2026). "Love story: This Paralympian's greatest achievement is his marriage". ABC News. Retrieved 1 September 2026.
- 1 2 3 4 "Matt Formston". Paralympics Australia. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ "2013 Para-Cycling World Cup Finals End in Matane, Canada Grabs Nine Medals". Cycling Canada. 25 August 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ "Men's Para Cycling Track World Records" (PDF). Union Cycliste Internationale. 4 November 2025. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ "Australia, New Zealand win pursuit races to open Track Worlds". International Paralympic Committee. 11 April 2014. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ "UCI Para-cycling Track World Championships: Five champions hang on to their crowns". International Paralympic Committee. 29 March 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ "Formston a dual world champion". NBN News. 4 December 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ "Team USA Wins Historic First Gold Medal at 2018 Stance ISA World Adaptive Surfing Championship". International Surfing Association. 16 December 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ "Team Spain Wins AmpSurf ISA World Para Surfing Championship". Surfline. 21 March 2020. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ "2022 AASP Championship Tour Final Rankings ~ Men". Association of Adaptive Surfing Professionals. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ "Recap of the 2017 Hawaii Adaptive Surfing Championships". AccesSurf. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ "2018 AccesSurf Hawaii Adaptive Surfing Championships results" (PDF). AccesSurf. August 2018. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ "Australian adaptive surfers strike gold as sport makes professional debut in Hawaii". ABC News. 17 June 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ "2017 Results". US Open Adaptive Surfing Championships. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ "2023 Results". US Open Adaptive Surfing Championships. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ "Largest wave surfed (male) (IS2)". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ "Blind, big-wave surfer Matt Formston inspires students' dance performance". ABC News. 15 September 2025. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ "Winners Crowned at the Australian Surfing Awards". Surfing Australia. 20 February 2023. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ "Matt Formston Elected First Surfing Australia Para-Surfing Council Chair Person". Surfing Australia. 8 September 2021. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
- ↑ "Announcement of the NDIS Evidence Advisory Committee". Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
- 1 2 Spargo Ryan, Anna (August 2026). "Beyond the limit". Company Director. Australian Institute of Company Directors. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ "Champion Surfer and Paralympian Matt Formston Appointed to Blind Sports NSW Board". Blind Sports NSW. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
- ↑ "Inclusive bookshelves championed at Vision Australia's children's book launch". Vision Australia. 12 June 2024. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
- ↑ "Sydney Film Festival Announces Full Program". Mumbrella. 7 May 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
- ↑ "Award-winning blind surfer doc now on Netflix". FilmInk. 26 February 2025. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
- ↑ "Matt Formston – 2024 Finalist – Blind Australian of the Year Award". Blind Australian of the Year. 17 October 2024. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
- ↑ "Australia Day 2025 Honours List". Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia. 26 January 2025. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
- ↑ "Australian Paralympic Family Celebrates Honours". Paralympics Australia. 29 January 2025. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
- ↑ "Australia Day 2025 Honours List – Media Notes – Order of Australia (AM)" (PDF). Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia. p. 40. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
