[2][3] Bywater, son to Linda and Terrance, was born on 28 February 1983 in Dormanstown, England and currently lives in Cleveland, North Yorkshire.

[5] Bywater began playing wheelchair basketball at the age of 13 at an open day in Middlesbrough with the Teesside Lions.

[2] He participated in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, where he won a bronze medal, and was the top Great Britain scorer in the event.

Bywater returned to England so he could play with the Super League Club Sheffield Steelers throughout the 2011–12 season.

[5][7] At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, the wheelchair basketball team lost to the United States, and finished in fourth position, after losing to Canada, missing out of the finals.