Ellie Simmonds Biography – Ellie Simmonds Wiki
Ellie Simmonds is a British former Paralympian swimmer who competed 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. She was 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 game in London. She won another two golds in London, including setting a World Record in the 400m freestyle, and a further gold medal at the Rio Paralympics in 2016, this time setting a world record for the 200m medley. On August 7, 2022, it was announced that Simmonds would be participating in the twentieth series of the BBC One show Strictly Come Dancing. In the dancing competition, she was partnered with professional dancer Nikita Kuzmin.
Simmonds, who has achondroplasia, became interested in swimming at the age of five. 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. At the age of 13, she was the youngest British athlete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, competing in the 50m, 100m, and 400m freestyle, 50m butterfly, and 200m Individual Medley. She won gold medals in the 100m and 400m freestyle events.
On September 1, 2012, she 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. Two days later, on the evening of September 3, she took Gold in the 200m Individual Medley, breaking the World Record that she had set in the qualifying round that morning. On September 12, 2016, at the Rio Paralympics, she defended her Gold medal for the 200m individual medley setting a new world record, the first below 3 minutes at 2:59.81. Simmonds also won a bronze medal in the 400m freestyle at the 2016 Summer Paralympics. In addition, Simmonds has won ten gold World Championship titles.
She swims in the S6 disability category. On September 2, 2021, Simmonds announced her Paralympic retirement after missing out on a medal in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. On August 7, 2022, it was announced that she would be participating in the twentieth series of the BBC One show Strictly Come Dancing. She won the 2008 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award. She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours. At 14 years old, she became the youngest person ever to have received this honor. She received the honor from Queen Elizabeth II on February 18, 2009. 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.
In 2011, she won the award for ‘Best British Sporting Performance for an Athlete with Disability’ at the Jaguar Academy of Sport Annual Awards. 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 bronze in the S6 50m. In celebration of her two gold medals, two Royal Mail postboxes were painted gold in her honor, one in Aldridge and one in Swansea. She was elevated to Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to Paralympic sport. She is very involved with charity work, with much of her focus being on sports, young people, and water.
She is a patron of the Dwarf Sports Association UK, along with swimmer Matthew Whorwood. Simmonds says of the charity, “It’s a charity that supports people of short stature and helps them get into the sport. One of the highlights of the year is the convention we have in the spring. There’s everything from powerlifting to athletics.” In January 2019, she was appointed to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee board. She is an ambassador for The Scout Association. She is also a Girlguiding leader in Manchester, where her pack name is Aqua Owl. Simmonds is a WaterAid ambassador. She completed her primary education at Cooper and Jordan CofE Primary before attending Aldridge School and later Olchfa School in Swansea. She studied Psychology at Loughborough University in England.
Ellie Simmonds Strictly Come Dancing
She is a contestant in the twentieth series of Strictly Come Dancing. Speaking of singing up, she said: “Oh my gosh! I’m literally bursting with excitement!! It’s been so hard keeping this secret as I’ve wanted to tell everyone. I’m going on Strictly Come Dancing!!
“I’m a tad nervous too, well more than a tad… I’m absolutely petrified! To be asked to be part of the Strictly family is just so exciting and I cannot wait, it’s going to be so much fun. I’m counting down the minutes until it starts; learning to dance, meeting my partner, and everyone else involved in the show. Plus wearing the sequins and all that, It’s going to be a blast. I’ve been watching Strictly from as far back as I can remember; it’s a traditional lead-up to Christmas with my family and it’s a genuine privilege to be part of it.”
Ellie Simmonds Age
Her birth name is Eleanor May Simmonds. She was born on November 11, 1994, in Aldridge, England.
Ellie Simmonds Family
She is the daughter of Val Simmonds and Steve Simmonds. She has three sisters and a brother. They are Georgina, Pauline, Katie, and Steven. She was born in Walsall and brought up in Aldridge, a part of the Metropolitan Walsall Borough. She became interested in swimming at the age of five. 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.
Ellie Simmonds Height
She stands at a height of 4 feet 0 inches (1.23 meters) tall.
Ellie Simmonds Instagram
Her Instagram handle is @elliesimmonds.
