Around 650 million people are disabled in this world. 350 million struggle with hearing-loss. But only one is an LSU swimmer.
And that’s Matthew Klotz.
“I was born deaf,” Klotz said. “My parents didn’t find out till I was two years old.”
But Klotz isn’t just an LSU swimmer; he’s a phenom in deaf sports. Klotz set world-records in the 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke at the 2013 Deaflympics. 
“When I first did that I was kinda shocked cause it was my first one and I didn’t know that i’d be able to do it at the time,” Klotz said.
“I don’t really know if it was until after we signed him or right before he came here , I don’t think we were really aware of what he was doing,” LSU Swimming coach Dave Geyer said. “In terms of what he was doing in the deaf world, we weren’t really aware of it. Once we knew i think it was a little fun, it’s exciting.”
But Klotz’ journey to the record books was anything but easy. A disability on the outside created an inner struggle that he dealt with for most of his life.
“When I was younger I couldn’t, I didn’t really accept myself,” Klotz said. “I went through stages. Kinda like understanding who I was and accepting that. I was all negative kinda about it.”
But Klotz just kept swimming, which ended up changing his life.
“Swimming made me a lot more confident,” Klotz said. “I wasn’t very good in school because it was already hard, it’s already a challenge for me to, you know, focus in class, to the teacher and everything. Swimming kinda brought my confidence, kinda made me happy about everything.”
Now Klotz is headed to the 2017 Deaflympics in Turkey this summer, hoping to once again make history.
“It’s been four years so i’ve progressed throughout each year,”.