Eleanor Simmonds
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| Full name | Eleanor Simmonds | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | British | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 11 November 1994 Walsall, England |
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| Sport | Swimming | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stroke(s) | Freestyle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club |
Boldmere Swimming Club Swansea Performance Centre |
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Medal record
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Eleanor Simmonds MBE (born 11 November 1994 in Walsall, West Midlands[1]) is a British Paralympian swimmer who has achondroplasia.
Simmonds competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China in the 50 m, 100 m and 400 m freestyle, 50 m butterfly, and 200 m individual medley.[2] She swims in the S6 disability category. At the age of 13, she was the youngest British athlete in China.[3] She came 5th in the 200 m individual medley and won gold medals in the 100 m and 400 m freestyle events.[4]
She won the 2008 BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award.
Simmonds was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2009 New Year Honours.[5] At 14 she is the youngest person to have ever received this honour.[6] She received the honour from Queen Elizabeth II on 18 February 2009.[7]
She lives part time in Swansea and trains for two hours at a time in nine training sessions per week at the Wales National Pool. Before moving to Swansea, she swam for Boldmere Swimming Club in Sutton Coldfield, under Head Coach Ashley Cox and several other coaches. In 2008, following her success in Beijing she was made a life member of the club. To this date she still maintains her links with Boldmere Swimming Club, swimming at the annual Club Championships and occasionally attending training sessions when she returns from Swansea.
She also took part in All Star Family Fortunes which was broadcast on 29 November 2009, which made her the youngest team captain they ever had on the show. She played the game with her aunt, trainer, cousin and brother and won £1,520 for her chosen charity.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ "ParalympicsGB squad for Beijing". http://www.paralympics.org.uk/core/core_picker/download.asp?id=660&filetitle=ParalympicsGB+squad+for+Beijing. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
- ^ "GB Swimming Team Biographies". http://www.paralympics.org.uk/core/core_picker/download.asp?id=680&filetitle=Swimming+Team+Biographies. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
- ^ "GB squad takes shape". http://www.disabilitynow.org.uk/living/sport/gb-squad-takes-shape. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
- ^ The Press Association (2008-09-08). "Simmonds secures gold". Google. http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5gCvjmQ5cN0yxuU589SZpJC4maCzQ. Retrieved 2008-09-08.
- ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 58929. p. 22. 31 December 2008.
- ^ "New Year Honours 2009 Article". BBC News. 31 December 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7804822.stm. Retrieved 2008-12-31.
- ^ "Swimmer Ellie receives MBE at 14". BBC News. 18 February 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/7896367.stm. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
| Awards and achievements | ||
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| Preceded by Tom Daley |
BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year 2008 |
Succeeded by Tom Daley |
| This biographical article related to a British swimmer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
| This article about a Paralympic medalist of Great Britain is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- English swimmers
- Paralympic swimmers of Great Britain
- Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain
- Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics
- People from Walsall
- Members of the Order of the British Empire
- People with dwarfism
- World record holders in paralympic swimming
- 1994 births
- Living people
- People educated at Olchfa School
- British swimming biography stubs
- British Paralympic medalist stubs