Ellie Victoria Cole, (born 12 December 1991) is an Australian retired Paralympic swimmer and wheelchair basketball player. After having her leg amputated due to cancer, she trained in swimming as part of her rehabilitation program and progressed more rapidly than instructors had predicted. She began competitive swimming in 2003 and first competed internationally at the 2006

IPC Swimming World Championships The World Para Swimming Championships, known before 30 November 2016 as the IPC Swimming World Championships, are the world championships for swimming where athletes with a disability compete. They are organised by the International Paralympic C ...

, where she won a silver medal. Since then, she has won medals in the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, the Commonwealth Games, the

Paralympic Games The Paralympic Games or Paralympics, also known as the ''Games of the Paralympiad'', is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities, including impaired muscle power and impaire ...

, the IPC Swimming World Championships, and various national championships. Following the 2012 London Paralympics, where she won four gold and two bronze medals, Cole underwent two shoulder reconstructions and made a successful return to swimming at the

2015 IPC Swimming World Championships The 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships was an international swimming competition for athletes with a disability. It was held in Glasgow, United Kingdom and took place from 13 to 19 July. Around 580 athletes from around 70 countries competed at ...

, winning five medals, including three golds. She subsequently represented Australia at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics, the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that were held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

, and the

2020 Tokyo Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the International Paralympic ...

. In claiming her seventeenth Paralympic medal in Tokyo, Cole became Australia's most decorated female Paralympian with six gold, five silver and six bronze medals from four Paralympic Games.

Personal life

Ellie Victoria Cole was born in Lilydale, Victoria, on 12 December 1991. Her mother and grandfather were both swimmers, and her father was athletic. At two years of age, she was diagnosed with a rare tumour, a neurosarcoma that was wrapped around the nerves of her right leg. After unsuccessful attempts to treat her cancer with chemotherapy, her right leg was amputated above the knee on 14 February 1994. Eight weeks after the surgery, as part of her rehabilitation, Cole's mother Jenny enrolled her in swimming lessons. Cole's instructors expected her to take up to a year to learn how to swim in a straight line, but it took her two weeks. Cole attended Mount Eliza North Primary school and

Frankston High School , motto_translation = Best Always , established = , type = Government-funded co-educational secondary day school , students = 1,750 , location = , Melbourne, Victoria , country = Australia , coordinates = , pushpin_map = Australia Mel ...

, both in the outer Melbourne suburb of Frankston. As of 2021 she lives in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

and trains at the Knox Pymble Swim Club. She has completed a Bachelor in Health and Exercise Science at the

Australian Catholic University Australian Catholic University (ACU) is a public university in Australia. It has seven Australian campuses and also maintains a campus in Rome. History Australian Catholic University was opened on 1 January 1991 following the amalgamatio ...

. Cole was featured in the 2020 documentary film ''

Rising Phoenix ''Rising Phoenix'' is a 2020 documentary film directed by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui and starring Tatyana McFadden, Bebe Vio and Jonnie Peacock. The film conveys the stories of nine Paralympic athletes and their journeys in competition. ''Ri ...

on Netflix '', which focused on the Paralympic Games. She also campaigns for #WeThe15, a global human rights movement for disabled people. Cole announced her retirement from swimming at the August 2022 Duel in the Pool.

Swimming

Cole is classified in the S9 category in swimming due to her amputation, a classification that also includes swimmers who have joint restrictions in one leg and those with double below-knee amputations. She began competitive swimming in 2003 and, at the 2006

in Durban, she won a silver medal in the women's 100m backstroke S9 event. Also in 2006 Cole won the 100m backstroke at the Telstra Australian Swimming Championships. Cole qualified for the

Australian Paralympic Swim Team The Australian Paralympic Swim Team has competed at every Summer Paralympics, which started with the 1960 Summer Paralympic Games. Matthew Cowdrey at the 2012 London Games replaced Priya Cooper as Australia's most successful Paralympic swimmer, ...

in 2008 and, in the same year, attended the Beijing Paralympics where she won a silver medal in the Women's 100m Butterfly S9 event and bronze medals in the 400m Freestyle and 100m Backstroke events. Ellie Cole

On 12 August 2009 Cole participated in the 100m freestyle multi-disability event in the

2009 Australian Short Course Swimming Championships The 2009 Australian Short Course Swimming Championships were held at the Hobart Aquatic Centre from Saturday 8 August to Wednesday 12 August. They were organised by Swimming Australia and sponsored by Telstra. The events were spread over five ...

Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...

, where she broke the world record with a time of 1:04:06. This championship is the qualifying event for the

, run by FINA, the international organization for swimming. The same year Cole participated in the

2009 IPC Swimming World Championships 25 m The 2009 IPC Swimming World Championships 25 m were held from 29 November – 5 December in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was the first ever world-level short course paralympic swimming competition organised by the International Paralympic Committee ...

in Rio de Janeiro, where she won bronze medals in the 100m backstroke, 400m freestyle, 4 × 100m freestyle relay and the 200m individual medley. In 2010 at the

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022, In that same year she won bronze medals in the 100m Freestyle S9 and 100m Butterfly S9 events at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

in New Delhi. At the 2011 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada she won a total of six gold medals, emerging victorious in the women's 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 100m butterfly, 100m backstroke and 200m individual medley S9 events. Cole has also participated in national championships such as the Australian Age Multi Class Swimming Championships and the New South Wales State Open championships. The former competition is held in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

at the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

and is designed to prepare elite swimmers for international competition. She then participated in the 2012 New South Wales State Open Championships in multi-class events. Cole was an

Scholarship holder. Her coach, Graeme Carroll, trained her in

in preparation for the 2012 London Paralympics with an approach that combined swim training with aerobics and gym work. She trained with Teigan Van Roosmalen, a blind and deaf S13 swimmer. Cole also mentors young athletes. When not in high school Cole was undertaking ten or more swimming sessions a week but, while at school, she reduced her load. As of 2021, her coach is Nick Dobson. At the 2012 London Paralympics, Cole participated in eight events and won six medals. In her first event, the 100 m Butterfly S9, she finished fourth, while South Africa's Natalie du Toit finished first. However, the following night, Cole won the 100 m Backstroke S9, winning her first gold medal of the games in Australian record time. She told the press that it had "been a goal of mine ever since I was 12 years old to beat Natalie du Toit" who was "kind of like the Michael Phelps of swimming for me, she has been a great mentor and relaxes me in the marshalling room. She is my biggest hero." Cole won a second gold medal in the 4 x 100 m freestyle relay 34 pts, this time in World Record time. In the 400 m Freestyle S9, she was again beaten by du Toit, who finished first, while Cole took bronze. Cole won a second bronze in the 50 m Freestyle S9, in which du Toit finished seventh, and then gold in the 100 m Freestyle S9, in which du Toit finished third. Cole capped off the games, surprising even herself with a fourth gold medal, in the 4 x 100 m freestyle relay 34 pts, again in Australian record time. 070908 - Cole and Williams embrace - 3b - crop

070908 - Cole and Williams embrace - 3b - crop

After the London Paralympics, she underwent two shoulder reconstructions that threatened her swimming career. At the

, she won gold medals in the Women's 100 m Backstroke S9 breaking the world record in the heats and final, Women's 100 m Freestyle S9 and Women's 4 x 100 m Freestyle Relay 34 points, a silver medal in the Women's 4 × 100 m Medley Relay and a bronze medal in the Women's 50 m Freestyle S9 . Cole became the first S9 swimmer to break 29 seconds in the 50m freestyle in winning the gold medal at the

2016 Australian Swimming Championships The 2016 Australian Swimming Championships were held from 7 to 14 April 2016 at the South Australia Aquatic and Leisure Centre in Adelaide, South Australia. They doubled up as the national trials for the 2016 Summer Olympics and the 2016 Summer Pa ...

in Adelaide in the 50m Freestyle Multiclass event. Her time of 28.75 broke Natalie du Toit's world record of 29.04. At the 2016 Rio Paralymmpics, Cole won two gold medals in the Women's 100 m backstroke S9 and Women's 4 x 100 Freestyle Relay 34 points, three silver medals in the Women's 50 m and 400m Freestyle S9, Women's 4 x 100 Medley Relay 34 points and the bronze medal in the Women's 100m Freestyle S9. Cole alongside

Maddison Elliott Maddison Gae Elliott, (born 3 November 1998) is an Australian swimmer. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, she became the youngest Australian Paralympic medallist by winning bronze medals in the women's 400 m and 100 m freesty ...

Lakeisha Patterson Lakeisha Dawn Patterson, (born 5 January 1999) is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. She won medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships. At the 2016 Rio Paralympics, she won Australia's first gold medal of th ...

and

Ashleigh McConnell Ashleigh Kate McConnell, (born 26 March 1996) is a limb deficient Paralympic swimmer of Australia. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics and the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, where she won gold medals in freestyle relay events. Pers ...

broke the world record for the Women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay 34 Points with a time of 4.16.65. Cole faced a challenging time in the lead-up to Rio Paralympics. She reflects "I was still questioning if I was worthy to be there heading in – and I knew that I was, but it's amazing that even after the amount of psychological sports training that I've had, those thoughts still come in and take you down... Usually the athletes who win are the ones who can put those thoughts aside, and tell themselves that they've got a good crack at winning." Meanwhile, Cole put those thoughts aside and went on to win 6 medals at Rio. At the

2019 World Para Swimming Championships The 2019 World Para Swimming Championships is the 2019 edition of the World Para Swimming Championships run by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). The championships were held from February to June in seven countries across five continent ...

, London, she won the silver medal in the Women's 100m Backstroke S9 and bronze medal in the Women's 400m Freestyle S9. At the

, Cole, together with her team of

Emily Beecroft Emily Beecroft (born 19 November 1999) is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio Paralympics,2020 Tokyo Paralympics and has been selected for 2024 Summer Paralympics. She won a silver and bronze medal at the ...

Isabella Vincent Isabella Burchell became known as Isabella Vincent and Mrs Mills (1734 – 9 June 1802) was a British milkmaid and later singer at Vauxhall Gardens for ten years. Life She was said to have been a milkmaid who was trained as a singer at the expens ...

, and

won a silver medal in the Women's 4x100m Freestyle 34 pts with a time of 4:26.82, two seconds behind the winners, Italy. She also won a bronze medal in the 34pts Women's 4x100m Medley 34 pts. Her team of

Keira Stephens Keira Stephens (born 17 March 2003) is an Australian Paralympic swimmer. At the 2020 Summer Paralympics, she won two bronze medals. She has a been selected to compete at the 2024 Summer Paralympics in Paris, France. Personal life Stephens wa ...

and

clocked 4:55.70. In claiming the medley bronze, Cole's seventeenth Paralympic medal, she became Australia's most decorated female Paralympian, surpassing the previous record held by swimmer Priya Cooper. Cole also competed in the 100 m freestyle S9, the 400 m freestyle S9, and the 100 m backstroke S9. She qualified for the finals in each but failed to win a medal. At the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

, Birmingham, England, she finished 5th in the Women's 100 m freestyle S9.

Wheelchair basketball

Cole played wheelchair basketball for Victoria in the Women's National Wheelchair Basketball League in 2013 and 2014 as a

4.0 point player 4-point player is a disability sport classification for wheelchair basketball. Players in this class have normal trunk function but have a reduced level of functioning in one or both of their lower limbs. They may have difficulty with sideways mov ...

, taking out the league's award for Best New Talent in 2013. "I loved working in a team because swimming isn't considered a team sport," Cole told an interviewer in 2013. "I definitely wanted a new challenge, when you've been competing for a decade the increments of improvements are quite small. However, in wheelchair basketball I knew that I could make big improvements. I've been chosen for the women's national league team, which is great, so I'm actually getting somewhere, which is a surprise. But my heart is definitely in swimming and I think it always will be."

Recognition

During her time at

, Cole received a Debbie Flintoff-King award for the most outstanding sporting achievement from the institution three years in a row; she was also nominated for the Junior Paralympian of the Year award. The award was received for winning silver and two bronze medals in the Beijing Paralympic Games, silver in 100m butterfly and bronze in 100m backstroke and 400m freestyle. In 2009, she received an Outstanding Sporting Achievement Award from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development. In 2011, she was nominated for '' The Ages Sport Performer Award in the Performer with a Disability category. In August of the same year she was voted

International Paralympic Committee The International Paralympic Committee (IPC; german: Internationales Paralympisches Komitee) is an international non-profit organisation and the global governing body for the Paralympic Movement. The IPC organizes the Paralympic Games and fun ...

Athlete of the Month after winning six gold medals in Edmonton. She was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the 2014 Australia Day Honours "for service to sport as a Gold Medallist at the London 2012 Paralympic Games." In November 2015, she was awarded Cosmopolitan Magazine's 2015 Sportswoman of the Year. Cole was the flag bearer for Australia at the

2020 Tokyo Paralympic Games The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, was an international multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 24 August to 5 September 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. They were the 16th Summer Paralympic Games as organized by the Inter ...

Closing Ceremony. In 2022, she was awarded Most Outstanding Woman in Sport at the Australian Women in Sport Awards.

References

External links