#261 Matt Formston — Told He'd Never Play Sport Because He Was Blind. Now He's a 5x World Champion & World Record Big Wave Surfer at Nazaré
Good Humans with Cooper ChapmanShow Notes
This week I sat down with Matt Formston AM, and I genuinely don't know where to start with this one.
At five years old, Matt was told he would go blind and never hold down a job or play sport. The doctors were half right. Matt did go blind. But everything else they said? He has spent his entire life proving wrong.
Matt is a four-time Adaptive Surfing World Champion, a World Champion cyclist, an Australian Paralympian, and holds the Guinness World Record for the largest wave ever surfed by any para-athlete in history. He has had an award-winning Netflix documentary made about him — The Blind Sea — and has just released his debut book Why Not? through Wiley, out now.
We talk about what it actually takes to trust someone with your life on the biggest waves in the world, the mental health challenges that don't always make the highlight reel, what resilience really looks like when the odds are stacked against you from the age of five, and why the word "can't" has never really stuck with Matt.
We also get into his next chapter — Matt has become a world class free diver and is heading to Tonga in August to freedive with humpback whales. Because of course he is.
This is one of the most extraordinary human beings I have ever had the privilege of sitting down with. This one will change the way you think about limits.
In this episode we cover: Being told at five he would go blind and never work or play sport Four-time Adaptive Surfing World Champion and Guinness World Record holder at Nazaré World Champion cyclist and Australian Paralympian The Netflix documentary The Blind Sea The role of trust on the biggest waves in the world Mental health, resilience and life at the edge His new book Why Not? and the message behind it Freediving shipwrecks and swimming with humpback whales in Tonga
Matt's Book — Why Not? https://www.amazon.com.au/Why-Not-Breaking-Limits-Business/dp/1394434626 Matt's Website https://www.mattformston.com/ Follow Matt Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mattformston/?hl=en
Connect with Cooper Workshop and Speaking Enquiries https://form.typeform.com/to/DSPSnvEH 1% Good Club Book https://booktopia.kh4ffx.net/e1xrkr https://amzn.to/46ve1i2 Instagram https://www.instagram.com/cooperchapman/ TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@cooperchapman_ LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/cooper-chapman-08a278151/ The Good Human Factory Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thegoodhumanfactory/ The Good Human Factory https://www.thegoodhumanfactory.com THE GOOD HUMAN FACTORY™️ 2020 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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