Career Highlights:

- 1994 South African Junior Sportsman of the Year

- 2007 1st - Discovery, Men’s Health Series - Durban, South Africa

- 2009 1st - Discovery, Men’s Health Series - Durban, South Africa

- 2009 2nd - World Cup South Africa - Durban, South Africa

- 2009 1st - World Cup European Championships, Spain

Matthew Bouman is a proud South African who was born and bred in Durban. He began his involvement in water sports at an early age and was swimming competitively by 10. He won numerous national swimming titles as a junior and finaled at a senior level while he was 15. However, the monotony of the pool could not compete with the lure of the ocean and his involvement in surf lifesaving quickly became a priority. He won every ocean event as a junior and continued in the same vain into the senior ranks. He is presently the holder of the most individual South African lifesaving titles with 29, including 7 Iron Man wins. Matthew competed in the professional sporting ranks of both the Uncle Toby’s Super Series in Australia and the Ocean Warriors in South Africa, where he won in excess of 70% of the races he entered. Matthew has represented his country in 5 different sports (all on water); Swimming, Waterpolo, Lifesaving, Sprint Kayaking and Surf Ski. A brief kayaking stint, aiming at racing the K4 in the Beijing Olympics ended in a failure to qualify but set him up nicely for a welcome return to the ocean and surf ski racing. The 2009 year has seen him pull off his first major World Cup win, in the European Championships which was followed with a second in the Durban World Cup. He’s hungry for some more.

Date of Birth: August 19th, 1976

Country of Birth: South Africa

Current Residence: Durban, South Africa

Profession: Property broker

Height: 6'8"

Weight: 103kg

Hobbies: Surfing

Favorite Paddling Location: Durban Bay

Athletic Goals: I’d like to win a few more big races, with the top competitors there

Training/Racing Philosophy: It’s only floating fiberglass but it’s still worth killing myself to win!