Eleanor May Simmonds (born 11 November 1994[2]) is a British retiredParalympian swimmer who competed inS6 events. She came to national attention when she competed in the2008 Summer Paralympics inBeijing, 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 ahome games in London. She won another two golds in London, including setting a World Record in the 400m freestyle, and a further gold medal at theRio Paralympics in 2016, this time setting a world record for the 200m medley.
Simmonds was born in Derbyshire, and is anadoptee. She grew up inAldridge, a part of theMetropolitan Walsall Borough, and completed her primary education at Cooper and Jordan CofE Primary[3] before attendingAldridge School and laterOlchfa School in Swansea.[4]
Simmonds, who hasachondroplasia, became interested in swimming at the age of five.[5] She swam for Boldmere Swimming Club inSutton Coldfield, under Head Coach Ashley Cox, but she and her mother moved toSwansea when Simmonds was 11 to take advantage of the city's world-class swimming pool.[5][6] Simmonds has three sisters and a brother.[7]
She studiedPsychology atLoughborough University in England.[8] She was in a relationship with Matt Dean until 2023.[9]
At the age of 13, Simmonds was the youngest British athlete[10] at the2008 Summer Paralympics inBeijing, competing in the 50m, 100m and 400mfreestyle, 50mbutterfly, and 200mIndividual Medley.[11] She won gold medals in the 100m and 400m freestyle events.[12]
On 1 September 2012, Simmonds repeated her gold performance to win the 400m freestyle at the2012 Summer Paralympics in London, in which she took five seconds off the World Record time.[13] 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.[14]
On 12 September 2016, at the Rio Paralympics, Simmonds defended her gold medal for the 200m individual medley setting a new world record, the first below 3 minutes at 2:59.81[15] Simmonds also won a bronze medal in the 400m freestyle at the2016 Summer Paralympics.[16]
In addition, Simmonds has won ten goldWorld Championship titles,[2] and swims in theS6 disability category.
On 2 September 2021, Simmonds announced her Paralympic retirement after missing out on a medal in theTokyo 2020 Paralympics.[17]
After retiring from competitive swimming, Simmonds has gone on to present for BBC Sport, including for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games[18] and the2024 Paralympics.
Since 2023, Simmonds has been one of several British Olympians and Paralympians to feature in adverts forBritish Gas.[19]
In August 2024, Simmonds was a guest on the How to Fail podcast, hosted by Elizabeth Day.[20]
On 7 August 2022, it was announced that Simmonds would be participating in thetwentieth series of theBBC One showStrictly Come Dancing with her professional dance partner beingNikita Kuzmin.[21][22] She was eliminated in Week 7 after losing the dance off toMolly Rainford and Carlos Gu.[23]
Also, Simmonds competed on TV showThe Great Celebrity Bake-Off (series 2, episode 2) and has appeared on a number of other television programmes includingSaturday Night Takeaway,Ellie Simmonds: Swimming with Dolphins,Would I Lie to You? andThe Crystal Maze.[24]
Documentaries includeFinding My Secret Family[25] andA World without Dwarfism[26]
Simmonds' 2023 documentaryEllie Simmonds: Finding My Secret Family won best Single Documentary at the2024 British Academy Television Awards.[27]
In August 2024, Simmonds won the fourth series ofCooking with the Stars.
Simmonds won the 2008BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award.[28]
Simmonds was appointedMember of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the2009 New Year Honours.[29] At 14 years old, she became the youngest person ever to have received this honour.[30] She received the honour fromQueen Elizabeth II on 18 February 2009.[31] In March 2012, in the 200 m individual medley, she became the first swimmer to break a world record atLondon's Aquatics Centre. Her victory in a time of 3:08.14 broke her own previous best time by over half a second.[32]
In 2011, Simmonds won the award for 'Best British Sporting Performance for an Athlete with Disability' at the Jaguar Academy of Sport Annual Awards.[33]At the2012 Summer Paralympics inLondon 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 theS6 200m again with a new world record; silver in the S6 100m and a bronze in theS6 50m. In celebration of her two gold medals, two Royal Mail postboxes were painted gold in her honour, one inAldridge and one inSwansea.
Simmonds was elevated toOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the2013 New Year Honours for services to Paralympic sport.[34]
Simmonds is a patron of theDwarf Sports Association UK, along with swimmerMatthew Whorwood. Simmonds says of the charity, "It's a charity that supports people of short stature and helps them get into sport. One of the highlights of the year is the convention we have in the spring. There's everything from power lifting to athletics."[35]
In January 2019, Simmonds was appointed to theBirmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee board.[36]
Simmonds is an ambassador forThe Scout Association.
She is also aGirlguiding leader in Manchester, where her pack name is Aqua Owl.[35]
Simmonds is an ambassador for The Prince’s Trust and worked closely on their Change A Girls life campaign.
Simmonds is aWaterAid ambassador.[35]
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