Ellie Simmonds

Ellie Simmonds

Simmonds in 2008, celebrating her success in Beijing
Personal information
Full name	Eleanor May Simmonds
Nickname(s)	Ellie
Nationality	British
Born	11 November 1994 Walsall, England
Height	1.23 m (4 ft 0 in)
Weight	45 kg (99 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Freestyle
Club	Boldmere Swimming Club; Swansea Performance Centre; Loughborough University
Coach	Steve Bayley
Medal record Event 1st 2nd 3rd Paralympic Games 4 1 1 World Championships 8 3 4 World Championships (25 m) 6 1 0 European Championships 7 2 0 Women's swimming Representing  Great Britain Paralympic Games 2008 Beijing 100 m freestyle S6 2008 Beijing 400 m freestyle S6 2012 London 400 m freestyle S6 2012 London 200 m individual medley S6 2012 London 100m freestyle S6 2012 London 50m freestyle S6 IPC World Championships 2010 Eindhoven 100 m freestyle S6 2010 Eindhoven 200 m individual medley S6 2010 Eindhoven 50 m freestyle S6 2010 Eindhoven 400 m freestyle S6 2013 Montreal 100 m freestyle S6 2013 Montreal 400 m freestyle S6 2013 Montreal 200 m medley SM6 2015 Glasgow 200 m medley SM6 2010 Eindhoven 4x100 m freestyle relay 34pts 2010 Eindhoven 4x100 m medley relay 34pts 2015 Glasgow 400 m freestyle S6 2010 Eindhoven 4x50 m medley relay 20pts 2013 Montreal 50 m freestyle S6 2015 Glasgow 100 m breaststroke SB6 2015 Glasgow 4x100 m Freestyle Relay 34pts IPC World Championships (25m) 2009 Rio de Janeiro 100 m freestyle S6 2009 Rio de Janeiro 400 m freestyle S6 2009 Rio de Janeiro 200 m individual medley S6 2009 Rio de Janeiro 4x100 m medley S6 2009 Rio de Janeiro 4x100 m freestyle S6 2009 Rio de Janeiro 50 m freestyle S6 2009 Rio de Janeiro 200 m individual medley S6 IPC European Championships 2009 Reykjavik 50 m freestyle S6 2009 Reykjavik 100 m freestyle S6 2009 Reykjavik 400 m freestyle – S6 2009 Reykjavik 200 m individual medley S6 2009 Reykjavik 4x100 m freestyle S6 2014 Eindhoven 400m freestyle S6 2014 Eindhoven 100m breaststroke S6 2014 Eindhoven 50m freestyle S6 2014 Eindhoven 100m freestyle S6 Paralympic World Cup 2010 Manchester 200 m individual medley S6

Eleanor May Simmonds, OBE (born 11 November 1994^[1]) is a British Paralympian swimmer competing in S6 events. She came to national attention when she competed in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, winning two gold medals for Great Britain, despite being the youngest member of the team, at the age of 13. In 2012 she was again selected for the Great Britain squad, this time swimming at a home games in London. She won another two golds in London, including setting a World Record in the 400m freestyle.

Personal life

Born in Walsall, Simmonds grew up in neighbouring Aldridge. She completed her primary education at Hydesville Tower School before attending Aldridge School and later Olchfa School in Swansea.^[2] Simmonds, who has achondroplasia, became interested in swimming at the age of five.^[3] She swam for Boldmere Swimming Club in Sutton Coldfield, under Head Coach Ashley Cox, but she and her mother moved to Swansea when Simmonds was 11 to take advantage of the city's world-class swimming pool.^[3][4]

Career

At the age of 13, Simmonds was the youngest British athlete^[5] at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, competing in the 50m, 100m and 400m freestyle, 50m butterfly, and 200m Individual Medley.^[6] She won gold medals in the 100m and 400m freestyle events.^[7]

On 1 September 2012, Simmonds repeated her gold performance to win the 400m freestyle at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, in which she took five seconds off the World Record time.^[8] Two days later, on the evening of 3 September, she took Gold in the 200m Individual Medley, breaking the World Record that she had set in the qualifying round that morning.^[9]

In addition, Simmonds has won ten gold World Championship titles.^[10]

She swims in the S6 disability category.

Honours and awards

Simmonds won the 2008 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award.

Simmonds was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours.^[11] At 14 years old, she became the youngest person ever to have received this honour.^[12] She received the honour from Queen Elizabeth II on 18 February 2009.^[13] In March 2012, in the 200 m individual medley, she became the first swimmer to break a world record at London's Aquatics Centre. Her victory in a time of 3:08.14 broke her own previous best time by over half a second.^[14]

In 2011, Simmonds won the award for 'Best British Sporting Performance for an Athlete with Disability' at the Jaguar Academy of Sport Annual Awards.^[15] At the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London Simmonds won four medals, two golds, a silver and a bronze. She took gold in the S6 400m with a new world record; gold in the S6 200m again with a new world record; silver in the S6 100m and a bronze in the S6 50m. In celebration of her two gold medals, two Royal Mail postboxes were painted gold in her honour, one in Aldridge and one in Swansea.

Simmonds was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to Paralympic sport.^[16]

See also

• Swimming at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
• Swimming at the 2012 Summer Paralympics
• 2012 Olympics gold post boxes in the United Kingdom

References

1. "ParalympicsGB squad for Beijing". Retrieved 9 August 2008.
2. "Olympic bronze medalist Joanne Jackson visits Walsall school". walsalladvertiser.co.uk. 17 November 2014. Retrieved 14 February 2016.
3. Brown, Oliver (15 September 2012). "Ellie Simmonds, golden girl of the Paralympics, says she will never forget the feeling and doesn't want it to end". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
4. "Ellie Simmonds Swansea gold postbox honour". bbc.co.uk. 4 September 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
5. "GB squad takes shape". Retrieved 9 August 2008.
6. "GB Swimming Team Biographies". Retrieved 9 August 2008.
7. The Press Association (8 September 2008). "Simmonds secures gold". Google. Retrieved 8 September 2008.
8. "Paralympics 2012: Ellie Simmonds wins gold in world record". Retrieved 1 September 2012.
9. "Golden girl Simmonds shines again". London 2012 Paralympics. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
10. "Eleanor Simmonds". The Telegraph. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
11. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 58929. p. 22. 31 December 2008.
12. "New Year Honours 2009 Article". BBC News. 31 December 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2008.
13. "Swimmer Ellie receives MBE at 14". BBC News. 18 February 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
14. "Ellie Simmonds sets first Aquatics Centre world record". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 March 2012.
15. Jaguar Academy of Sport. "Jaguar Academy of Sport Annual Awards".
16. The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 60367. p. 24. 29 December 2012.