Ellie Cole

Ellie Cole

2016 Australian Paralympic Team portrait
Personal information
Full name	Ellie Victoria Cole
Nationality	Australia
Born	(1991-12-12) 12 December 1991 (age 25) Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Backstroke, butterfly, freestyle
Classifications	S9, SM9, SB8
Club	Castle Hill RSL Dolphins
Coach	Nathan Doyle
Medal record Women's Paralympic swimming Representing  Australia Paralympic Games 2012 London 100 m freestyle S9 2012 London 100 m backstroke S9 2012 London 4×100 m freestyle 2012 London 4×100 m medley 2016 Rio de Janeiro 4×100 m freestyle 2016 Rio de Janeiro 100 m backstroke S9 2008 Beijing 100 m butterfly S9 2016 Rio de Janeiro 50 m freestyle S9 2016 Rio de Janeiro 400 m freestyle S9 2016 Rio de Janeiro 4×100 m medley 2008 Beijing 400 m freestyle S9 2008 Beijing 100 m backstroke S9 2012 London 50 m freestyle S9 2012 London 400 m freestyle S9 2016 Rio de Janeiro 100 m freestyle S9 World Championships (LC) 2015 Glasgow 100 m freestyle S9 2015 Glasgow 100 m backstroke S9 2015 Glasgow 4×100 m freestyle 34 points 2006 Durban 100 m backstroke S9 2015 Glasgow 4×100 m medley 34 points 2010 Eindhoven 200 m medley SM9 2010 Eindhoven 400 m freestyle S9 2015 Glasgow 50 m freestyle S9 Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi 100 m freestyle S9 2010 Delhi 100 m butterfly S9

Ellie Victoria Cole, OAM (born 12 December 1991) is an Australian 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, 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 IPC Swimming World Championships, and various national championships. At the 2012 London Paralympics, she won four gold and two bronze medals. After the Games, she underwent two shoulder reconstructions and made a successful return to swimming at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships winning five medals including three gold medals. She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics, winning two gold medals, three silver and a bronze.

Ellie Victoria Cole was born in the Melbourne suburb of Lilydale 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 sarcoma 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, both in the outer Melbourne suburb of Frankston. As of 2015 she lives in Sydney and trains at the Castle Hill RSL Swim Club while she works towards a Bachelor of Sports Coaching and Exercise Science at the Australian Catholic University. She has a twin sister, Brittany.