Ricky Betar

Ricky Betar (born 25 September 2003) is an Australian Paralympic swimmer with an intellectual disability. He competed at the 2020 Summer Paralympics and has been selected for 2024 Summer Paralympics.

Personal
He was born 25 September 2003 in Osaka, Japan. His father is Australian and mother is Japanese. He attended Moorebank High School.

Swimming career
He is classified as a S14 swimmer. Betar has been swimming since he was 10 years old. At the 2019 Australian Championships, he took home five medals at the national champs and broke an INAS world record for the 50m freestyle. His time of 1:02.03 in the 100m backstroke resulted in him on making his maiden Australian team for the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships. At the 2019 World Para Swimming Championships, London, he was a member of the Australian team that won the bronze medal in the Mixed 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay S14. He also competed in the Men's 200m Freestyle S14, Men's 100m Backstroke S14, Men's 100m Butterfly S14 and Men's 100m Butterfly S14.

At the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, Betar teamed up with Madeleine McTernan, Ruby Storm, and Benjamin Hance in the Mixed 4 x 100 m freestyle S14. They won the silver medal with a time of 3:46.38, just under 6 seconds behind the winners, Great Britain, who set a world record. Betar also qualified for the finals in the 200 m freestyle S14 and 100 m butterfly S14 and finished seventh and eighth respectively. He also competed in the 100 m backstroke S14 but failed to advance to the Final. He competed at the 2023 World Para Swimming Championships in Manchester, England but did not medal.

Betar has a been selected to compete at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, France.

In 2024, he is coached by Casey Atkins at USC Spartans SC.

Recognition
In 2019, he was awarded the Kurt Fearnley Scholarship.