Beginning his swimming career at just 13 years old, Rowan Crothers debuted by breaking four Australian National Age Records in the Men’s 50m, 100m, 200m and 400m freestyle (S9). He continued to break these records in the same events until he was 16.

At the 2013 Australian Short Course Championships, Crothers went on to break the Men’s S9 World Record for the 400m freestyle. The following year at the Australian Swimming Championships, he broke the World Records for the Men’s 100m freestyle (S9) twice, as well as the Men’s 200m Freestyle (S9). These records allowed him to compete in the 2014 Commonwealth Games, in which he won gold and broke his own world record.

After being reclassified to S10, Crothers competed in the 2016 Rio Paralympics, where he placed fifth in the Men’s 100m Freestyle (S10). At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, Crothers won a gold medal in the Men’s 50m Freestyle (S10), and silver in the Men’s 10m Freestyle (S10). Crothers also won gold and broke another world record for the Men’s 4x100m Freestyle 34 pts.

Crothers brought home from Paris 2024 a silver in the Men’s 100m freestyle S10 – just 0.15 seconds behind gold medallist Stefano Raimondi – as well as a bronze medal in the tightly contested Men’s 50m freestyle S10.