Ellie Cole

When Ellie Cole left her room at the Australian Institute of Sport and made her way to the airport for the London 2012 Paralympic Games, she told herself she would return home a gold medallist. Not only did she win gold, she did it four times over, touching the wall first in the women’s 100m backstroke S9, women’s 100m freestyle S9, women’s 4x100m freestyle 34 points and women’s 4x100m medley 34 points. She also won bronze medals in the women’s 50m freestyle S9 and women’s 400m freestyle S9.

So, naturally, when she returned to the Paralympic pool at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games, Ellie was a hot favourite to win gold. As Australia’s top medallist from the Games alongside Dolphins teammate Lakeisha Patterson, Ellie won medals in all six of her events. But she waited until her final race on the final night of Para-swimming competition to win individual gold, finishing 0.39 seconds ahead of the silver medallist, Nuria Marques Soto (ESP), in the women’s 100m backstroke S9.

With more than a decade’s experience competing at an international level, Ellie knows what it takes to be successful. She has relocated to Sydney to train under Simon Cusack and alongside Olympic champions Cate and Bronte Campbell, and will be doing everything in her power over the next 18 months to defend her gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games.