BBC star confesses public ‘annoys’ them for unusual reason
ok.co.ukFormer Paralympic champion Ellie Simmonds has opened up about her life after retirement, revealing she still enjoys a dip in the pool despite occasionally getting 'annoyed' with other swimmers.The 29-year-old swimming sensation, who is set to make her presenting debut at the upcoming Paralympics in Paris, spoke about her current relationship with the sport.
Ellie, who clinched her first Paralympic medal at just 13 years old, shared that she aims for a weekly swim to keep her mind sharp. "I try and swim once a week, only 30 minutes," she explained. "It helps me more mentally so I try to do 30 minutes, to go up and down." Despite her love for swimming, Ellie confessed that her local pool visits can sometimes be frustrating. "I go where I used to train, so they know me - but I do sometimes get annoyed when there are slow people in the fast lane," she admitted with a chuckle. "I try to calm down! ...It's funny actually, when I swim - one of the things I do to keep myself entertained is I look at what I could do for the other public swimmers.They don't know but I'm thinking, 'You could do this better.'".The retired athlete looks back fondly on her illustrious career, which saw her bag an impressive haul of medals, including golds in the 100m freestyle and the 400m freestyle at the Beijing Games in 2012.
She continued to dominate the pool, securing three additional golds alongside a silver and two bronzes before hanging up her competitive goggles in 2021.
The former athlete is set to join the likes of Clare Balding, Ade Adepitan, Billy Monger and JJ Chalmers in Channel 4's Paralympics coverage line-up - two decades after she first discovered disabled swimming.
Read more on ok.co.uk