He was born without his left hand. He turned to swimming after his rugby league career was ended by a knee ligament injury. He attended high school at Marcellin College Randwick.[3] He is married to Jemma and they have a daughter Amara.[4]
In 2011, at the age of 26, he competed in the Can-Am Swimming Open, where he earned a gold medal in the S10 200m butterfly event, a silver medal in the men's SM10 200 m individual medley, and a bronze in the 100m freestyle event.[6]
Competing at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland, he won a bronze medal in the 100 m breaststroke SB9.[8] He finished fourth in the 4 × 100 m medley relay 34pts, fifth in the 200 m individual medley SM10, ninth in the 100 m butterfly S10, and eleventh in the 50 m freestyle S10.[9]
At the 2016 Rio Paralympics Games, Pendleton competed in three events. He placed fifth in Men's 100m Breaststroke SB9 but didn't progress to the finals in Men's 100m Butterfly S10 and Men's 200m Individual Medley SM10.
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