A biography for Ellie Simmondshasn’t been written yet.
“I didn't enjoy Rio. My team-mates were great but some of the staff made it a really negative place.”
“I love 'Come Dine With Me.'”
“I love the ocean and I'm passionate about conservation and the environment.”
“I want to go to the Paralympics in Tokyo in 2020 so that's my aim in sport, but what do I want to do after I retire? Do I want to do a normal job? I would like to become a primary school teacher but... it will be totally different.”
“To be honest, I've not really felt like a flagbearer for women's sport.”
“I learnt to swim at the age of four or five. My parents took me to a club where you go from learning to swim to competing.”
“I don't want to be stuck up. I'm just a normal person. My friends think of me as a normal friend, and I like that.”
“Monday to Fridays I'm practically an athlete every hour of the day.”
“Watching Nyree Lewis get her medal in the 100 backstroke inspired me to want to go to a Paralympics and it just went on from there.”
“Saturday is usually my social day to go out with my friends for food or shopping.”
“Sport is a great thing to get involved with, it's not just fitness but it also gets your competitive side out.”
“You're never going to lose your sport. It's like riding a bike to be honest.”
“In Beijing when the Chinese athletes had a massive roar that gave me a buzz pretending they were shouting for me.”
“I grew up swimming. Our first house in Aldridge, in the West Midlands, had a pool at the bottom of the garden.”
“When I was on the podium singing the national anthem, and the crowd were all singing it, it was definitely... It was a moment to remember, and I'm going to remember it for the rest of my life.”
“It's hard to stay at the top. There's a cheesy saying isn't there: it's easy to get to the top but once you're there it's harder to stay there, and I'm fully aware of that.”
“I was really keen on horse-riding, too, but I knew I had to give it up to give more time to swimming.”
“It's nice to hope to inspire people out there who maybe have a little less motivation or who are low in confidence or self-belief to go out there and achieve.”
“I've swum with dolphins in Mozambique and with bull sharks off Mexico. They didn't tell me how dangerous the sharks were until after I got out.”
“Sunday is my day of rest, which usually includes a lie-in, a pyjama day or just being with my family.”