Ellie Cole is among the most promising swimming prospects in the Australian London 2012 squad. Squared against long time nemesis, South African champion Natalie du Toit, Ellie has the ability and potential to win gold. She has warmed up superbly for London with an imposing performance at the 2011 Pan Pacific Championships in Canada, returning home with six gold medals.

Ellie was diagnosed with cancer at the age of two and underwent chemotherapy. After a round of treatment that did not reduce the cancer, her parents made an agonising decision to amputate Ellie’s leg to save her life. Ellie had her right leg amputated on Valentine’s Day when she was just three years old.

The 2006 IPC World Swimming Championships was Ellie’s debut into the world of elite swimming and she debuted in style, winning a silver medal. At the 2006 Australian Swimming Championships, Ellie won the 100m backstroke. Working towards her goal of one day beating the inspirational du Toit, Ellie trained hard for her selection on to the 2008 Paralympic squad, where she was the youngest on the Australian swimming team. The Watercube brought Ellie and du Toit head to head and while the South African remained on top, Ellie left her first Paralympic Games with one silver medal and two bronze.

Ellie continued to record podium finishes in a wide variety of events and competitions in the lead up to London 2012. She won two bronze medals at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi in the 100m freestyle and butterfly and also brought home two bronzes from the 2010 World Championships. The bronze medal trend had already begun in earnest at the 2009 World Short Course Championships in Rio, where she finished third five times.

While her disability has occasionally landed her in trouble (she once threw her leg at a boy in year seven who was annoying her), overall it has made her more determined to excel in swimming, believing that it is better to have a sore neck from aiming too high than a hunch back from aiming too low.

Ellie is currently based at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra studying Exercise Science at university. Outside of swimming, she enjoys having picnics in Canberra, bike riding on trails in the region and going out to the movies. She would like to be a PE teacher at Frankston High School down the track.