Australia's greatest Paralympian Matt Cowdrey retires

Matt Cowdrey joins Cate Campbell in giving young children swimming tips in Canberra last year. Photo: Rohan Thompson

Matt Cowdrey decided that once he could no longer see the Rio Paralympic Games in his future, then that would be the moment to call it quits.

On Tuesday, Cowdrey revealed the time had arrived and announced his retirement after a career that saw him become Australia's most successful Paralympian.

The 26-year-old has been busy establishing a career outside the pool since the London Paralympic Games where he eclipsed runner Tim Sullivan's Australian record of 10 gold medals, but he says that it has really only been the past couple of months where for the first time he could not see next year's Games in his plans.

Cowdrey's 50 freestyle (S9) win in London made him Australia's most successful Paralympian. Photo: Getty Images

Cowdrey has been the face of the Australian Paralympic movement for the past decade and his five gold medals in London, which took his career tally to 13, cemented his standing.

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He had initially intended that London, which was his third Games after Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008), would be his last and that he would retire after the Glasgow Commonwealth Games in 2014, but immediately after breaking Sullivan's record said he would swim on to Rio in 2016.

But Cowdrey, who won 23 medals over three Games has struggled to regain his competitive drive in the pool and even though qualified for Glasgow he was not fully fit and has trained only a handful of times since the Pan Pacs.

"Just more and more over the last couple of months especially I've come to the realisation that the majority of the things that I want to achieve are outside the pool, not inside it," Cowdrey told Fairfax Media.

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Australia's greatest Paralympian Matt Cowdrey retires