Matthew Nicholas Biondi (born October 8, 1965) is an American former competitive swimmer and water polo player.

Biondi competed in the Summer Olympic Games in 1984, 1988 and 1992, winning a total of eleven medals (eight gold, two silver and one bronze).

[2] At the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, Biondi won five gold medals, setting world records in the 50-meter freestyle and three relay events.

[2] Biondi started his aquatics career as a swimmer and water polo player in his hometown of Moraga, California.

[5] At the Los Angeles Olympics, Biondi swam the third leg of the relay, entering the water in second place just barely behind the team from Australia.

[7] The next season, 1986, Biondi swept the sprint freestyles, repeating his 1985 victories in the 100 and 200, and adding a win in the 50 with new NCAA and American records in the event.

[8] In his final collegiate season, 1987, Biondi repeated as winner in the 50, 100, and 200-yard freestyle events, breaking his own NCAA and American records in all three.

He was the first man to swim the 100-meter freestyle faster than 49 seconds, and by 1988 he owned the ten fastest times swum in that event and held the world record for nearly nine years.

At the National Championships on August 6, 1985, Biondi set the world record in the 100-meter freestyle twice in a single day, swimming a 49.24 in the prelims and a 48.95 in the finals.

The 4×100-meter free relay team of Scott McCadam, Mike Heath, Paul Wallace, and Biondi set a world record of 3:17.08, and the 4×100-meter medley relay team of Rick Carey, John Moffet, Pablo Morales, and Biondi set a world record of 3:38.28.

Biondi swam a good race, with a time of 1:47.99, but finished with a bronze medal behind Australian Duncan Armstrong, who won gold with a new world record, and Anders Holmertz of Sweden, who earned the silver.

[23] Later that day, Biondi anchored the 4×200-meter freestyle relay, joined by teammates Troy Dalbey, Matt Cetlinski, and Doug Gjertsen.

Teammate Chris Jacobs won silver, delivering the first one-two finish for the American swim team at the 1988 Olympics.

Biondi swam the butterfly leg, joined by teammates David Berkoff (backstroke), Richard Schroeder (breaststroke), and Chris Jacobs (freestyle).

Biondi graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Economy of Industrialized Societies (PEIS).

As of 2012[update], he teaches math and coaches at Sierra Canyon School in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Chatsworth.

The Matt Biondi Masters Classic was held for the first time on March 23, 2014, in Simi Valley, California.