Interview: Mattie Reynolds

Mattie Reynolds is a teenager with huge ambition. In between winning gold medals for swimming and competing in discus, javelin and badminton at the World Dwarf Games in Canada over the summer of 2017, training in sailing and acting as an ambassador for Bristol Sport, he’s still at school and working hard on his mock GCSEs.

But Mattie manages to keep an incredibly balanced life and seems to take his busy schedule all in his stride, despite occasionally struggling to balance his studies and his sport. “When I used to do sailing it would take the whole weekend,” he says. “I’d normally have to go down to Queen Mary in London or Weymouth and stay overnight, and I’d be knackered because I’d gone out sailing, like, seven hours per day, so there was just no schoolwork I could really do.”

Mattie has Spondyloepiphyseal Dysplasia congenita (SEDc), which means he has restricted growth, but his physical condition isn’t a hinderance to him. He’s planning to go on to study A-Levels in geography, politics and biology, and is a young person with a serious amount of drive and motivation. “I just enjoy it – that’s the main thing,” he says. “Especially sailing. There’s something different every time. It’s so interesting.”

Sailing has been Mattie’s focus for years, and he had been working towards an appearance at the Paralympics, but the sailing category was recently dropped from the upcoming 2020 Paralympic games – a crushing disappointment. “I worked on sailing for so long. That was my main thing and suddenly overnight all the pathways for the Paralympics suddenly stopped,” Mattie says.

Mattie won swimming gold medals at the World Dwarf Games in Canada over the summer of 2017

Although swimming could be an option for the 15-year-old, the gruelling training is understandably off-putting. “Swimming I really love, but it’s so intense,” he admits. “A lot of world-class swimmers train from when they’re seven years old, every single day. So I’ve kind of missed the boat a bit.” Even so, Mattie was in the pool every morning before school last year, taking on a huge responsibility in training himself for the World Dwarf Games. It’s an incredible example of independent sportsmanship.

Although he doesn’t see himself becoming a spokesperson in an official sense, Mattie is already engaging in advocacy and raising awareness for those with growth disorders. He’s been made an ambassador for Bristol Sport, and has already held a talk with children in Reception Class at his school, Bristol Cathedral Choir School. Through Bristol Sport he will be touring schools and giving inspirational talks about his achievements – starting immediately after his GCSE exams.

He’ll be taking a well-earned break over the summer, with plans to go to festivals and hang out on Brandon Hill with his friends, but it’s just a brief window of down-time in Mattie’s extraordinary life. In September, as his A-levels begin, he says he hopes to use his free time to develop his advocacy and awareness campaigns with schoolchildren.

There’s also one more very big decision to make – what career he’ll go into. “I’ve kind of got a few different paths,” he says. “I think I might like to go into political journalism or TV, but I still want to broaden my horizons.” It’s necessary to keep reminding yourself that Mattie is still only 15 –  he speaks with so much insight and seems to assess the world with a mature attitude that is admirable. One thing is very clear: the future is big and bright for Mattie Reynolds.

See the BBC Inside Out West film on Mattie on BBC iPlayer and via BBC Inside Out West website www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09vfyz4.