Eleanor "Ellie" Robinson (born 30 August 2001) is an English retired swimmer. Competing in SB6 and S6 classification events, Robinson holds the World record and the Paralympic record in the S6 50m

butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...

and the World record in the 100m, setting both at the age of 13. In 2016, Robinson won four medals at the

2016 IPC Swimming European Championships The 2016 IPC Swimming European Championships was an international swimming competition. It was held in Funchal, Madeira running from 30 April to 7 May. Around 450 athletes from 50 different countries attended the competition. This was the last maj ...

. She followed this success at the Rio Paralympics in 2016, where she won the gold medal in the women's S6 50m butterfly event and bronze in the women's S6 100m freestyle event. She became known for her "gangsta swagger" as she entered the pool in her oversized coat with its hood up. On 14 December 2016, it was announced that she had won the

BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year The BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year award is presented at the annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year award ceremony. It is awarded to the sportsperson aged 17 or under as of 1 January of that year, who has made the most outstanding co ...

. Robinson was recognised in the

2017 New Year Honours The 2017 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours were awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

, being appointed

Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) for services to swimming. Having competed at the delayed

2020 Paralympics The , branded as the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, were 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 Paralympi ...

, Robinson announced her retirement from competitive swimming in October 2021.

Personal life

Robinson was born in 2001 with a rare type of dwarfism cartilage hair hypoplasia and lives in

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

, England, where she was formerly a pupil of Northampton High School. In November 2012 she was diagnosed with Perthes hip disease which requires her to undergo daily physiotherapy.

Swimming career

Robinson learned to swim at the age of four, and joined Northampton Swimming Club in 2012. She stopped training after 2 months (having been diagnosed with Perthes disease), but returned to the pool in 2014. In 2014 Robinson was enrolled into the British Swimming's World Class Podium Potential Programme. She made her senior international debut for Great Britain at the 2015 International Deutsche Meisterschaften in Berlin. At the tournament she set a world record in the 100m butterfly, with a time of 1:26.30. She followed this with a silver in the 50m butterfly, in which she improved on her own British record, and a bronze in the 200m butterfly. In 2016, in the build up to the Summer Paralympics in Rio, Robinson again improved upon her British 50m butterfly record, finishing in 36.34 and taking the gold medal. This was also under the time for consideration for Paralympic qualification. She followed this with her first major international tournament, representing Great Britain at the

Funchal Funchal () officially Funchal City (), is the capital, largest city and a Municipality (Portugal), municipality in Portugal's Madeira, Autonomous Region of Madeira, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean. The city has a population of 105,795, making it ...

. There Robinson entered five events, winning medals in four of them. In the 200m Individual Medley (SM6) she finished fourth, but took bronze medals in the 50m, 100m and 400m freestyle events. In the 50m butterfly she was beaten into second place by the then Paralympic champion, Oksana Khrul of Ukraine. Khrul, who set the then 50m world record of 36.05 at the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

in London, improved her time with a result of 35.48. Robinson's silver medal time was 35.66, also under the 2012 World record. Robinson won the gold medal in the women's S6 50m butterfly event at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, in a new Paralympics record time of 35.58 seconds, beating 2012 champion Oksana Khrul into second place. She also won a bronze in the 100m equivalent at the same Games. Robinson won the gold medal in the women's S7 50m butterfly event at the

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

, beating Canadian Sarah Mehainl into second place. At the

2018 World Para Swimming European Championships The 2018 World Para Swimming European Championships, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2018 World Para Swimming Allianz European Championships took place in Dublin, Ireland from 13 to 19 August 2018. It was the 5th edition of the Championship ...

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

, Robinson won the women's S6 50m butterfly gold, ahead of Ireland's Nicole Turner and Ukraine's Oksana Khrul.

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Ellie 2001 births Living people British female butterfly swimmers English female freestyle swimmers British female freestyle swimmers British female medley swimmers Paralympic swimmers for Great Britain Paralympic gold medalists for Great Britain Paralympic bronze medalists for Great Britain Paralympic medalists in swimming Swimmers at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Paralympics Medalists at the World Para Swimming European Championships Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games gold medallists in swimming Swimmers at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Members of the Order of the British Empire Sportspeople from Northampton Swimmers with dwarfism Television presenters with disabilities S6-classified para swimmers Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games 21st-century English sportswomen English female butterfly swimmers English female medley swimmers