GWR 2023 High Res Blad PDF Half Page ver - Flipbook - Page 10
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disabilities.
ara swimmer Ellie Simmonds hung up her goggles
in 2021, ending a glittering career in the pool
that saw her break multiple world records, win
19 Paralympic and World Championship gold medals,
and become an iconic figure of disability sport.
Ellie started swimming at five years old and was
entered into the British Swimming talent programme
aged 10, after she was spotted at an event. Born with
achondroplasia – a form of dwarfism – she competed
in the women’s S6 and SM6 classifications of para
swimming. Ellie exploded on to the international scene
at the age of just 13, winning two gold medals at the
2008 Beijing Paralympics. She was voted the BBC Young
Sports Personality of the Year and became a household
name in the UK.
As the home favourite at the 2012 Paralympics in
London, the pressure was on Ellie. She rose to the
challenge in style, smashing the S6 400 m world record
by five seconds in the final and winning a second gold, in
the SM6 200 m individual medley, also in world-record
time. After winning another Paralympic title at Rio 2016,
Ellie competed for the final time at the delayed Tokyo
Paralympics in 2021 – fittingly, racing against the next
generation of para athletes that she herself had done
so much to inspire.
Ellie Simmonds
PARALYMPIAN
3
2
1
Walsall, West
Midlands, UK
LC 800 m: 11:03.41
SC 200 m: 2:44.21
SC 400 m: 5:27.58
SC 4 x 100 m
(34 pts): 4:26.20
• SC 200 m
individual medley
(SM6): 3:05.13
• SC 4 x 100 m
medley: 4:56.23
Birthplace
Current
world records
(S6 freestyle
unless
indicated;
LC = long
course, SC =
short course)
•
•
•
•
Eleanor May
Simmonds, OBE
Name
VITAL STATISTICS