Elizabeth Johnson (born 3 December 1985) is a British swimmer who has won gold medals in the Paralympic Games and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) world championships. She has

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sens ...

, placing her in the S6 classification.

Personal life

Johnson was born in Newport,

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, on 3 December 1985. She has

, and, at the age of three, was encouraged by her mother to join a group for disabled swimmers to strengthen and relax her muscles. She came to love the sport, competing as an S6 swimmer, and was selected to swim for

Team GB Team GB is the brand name used since 1999 by the British Olympic Association (BOA) for their Great Britain at the Olympics, British Olympic team. The brand was developed after Great Britain at the 1996 Summer Olympics, the nation's poor perfor ...

at the age of 14. Johnson attended

Swansea University Swansea University ( cy, Prifysgol Abertawe) is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. ...

and in 2008, completed a degree in business management and finance. She currently lives in Bath, Somerset, and trains with the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

training group, Team Bath. While Johnson was on the aeroplane to the

2008 Summer Paralympics The 2008 Summer Paralympic Games (), the 13th Summer Paralympic Games, took place in Beijing, China from September 6 to 17, 2008. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, equestrian events were held in Hong Kong and sailing events in Qingdao. It was f ...

in Beijing, her mother died after a long battle with cervical cancer. She decided to continue with the Games when she was told that the funeral could be held when she returned home. Johnson spends one day a week studying accountancy, and is considering a career in that field when she retires from competitive swimming. She has been in a relationship with Brazilian para-swimmer

Phelipe Rodrigues Phelipe Andrews Melo Rodrigues (born 10 August 1990) is a paralympic swimmer from Brazil competing mainly in category S10 events. He was born with a club foot and had two surgeries when he was just four weeks old. After his second surgery when h ...

since 2011. In July 2016, Johnson appeared in the eleventh series of ''

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'' on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

. She is an athlete mentor for the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust.

Career

Swimming

Johnson is significant within the British Para Swimming Team; specialising in breaststroke, she is one of a select few to have won gold medals in the Paralympics,

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

, and European Championships. At the 2006 IPC Swimming World Championships in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, South Africa, Johnson won an individual gold medal in the 100 metre breaststroke, and two relay golds. She repeated her breaststroke success at the 2009 event, breaking the world record in the process, and also picked up two individual medley bronze medals. She won gold in the 100 metre breaststroke at the

, eleven days after the death of her mother, dedicating the victory to her memory. Johnson's successes were recognised when, in April 2011, she was given the honour of laying the final tile in the competition pool at the

London Aquatics Centre The London Aquatics Centre is an indoor facility with two swimming pools and a diving pool in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in Stratford, London. The centre, designed by architect Zaha Hadid as one of the main venues of the 2012 Summer Olympic ...

. She was also selected as the Paralympic Oath taker for the 2012 Paralympic Games. Johnson added to her Paralympic medal collection at London 2012 Paralympics, as she set a new Paralympic record en route. Johnson recorded a season's best time of 1:40.90, to take the bronze medal in the SB6 100 m backstroke. In the buildup towards her fourth Paralympics at

Rio Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...

, Johnson underwent an operation for a

hernia A hernia is the abnormal exit of tissue or an organ, such as the bowel, through the wall of the cavity in which it normally resides. Various types of hernias can occur, most commonly involving the abdomen, and specifically the groin. Groin herni ...

. While recovering, she found herself falling behind in her training, which impacted on her preparation for the 2016 Paralympic trials. Her failure to make the trials resulted in her decision to retire from competitive swimming.

Entrepreneurship

In August 2018, Johnson announced starting "The Ability People" an organization that is aimed at recruiting disabled people beside the able-bodied people without discrimination. In 2018, she was listed as one of the BBC's 100 Women.

References

External links

Liz Johnson Twitter feed
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Liz 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Newport, Wales Welsh female swimmers Paralympic swimmers of Great Britain Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic silver medalists for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Paralympics Alumni of Swansea University S6-classified Paralympic swimmers BBC 100 Women Team Bath swimmers Team Bath Paralympic athletes Medalists at the World Para Swimming Championships Medalists at the World Para Swimming European Championships Paralympic medalists in swimming British female breaststroke swimmers British female medley swimmers 21st-century British women