Ellen May Gandy (born 15 August 1991), also known by her nickname Elly Gandy, is a British-born Australian former female

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 ...

swimmer. She represented Great Britain and England until 2012, and had almost all of her elite-level success under those flags. She represented

Great Britain at the 2008 Summer Olympics Great Britain and Northern Ireland Olympic Team, Great Britain competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Kingdom was represented by the British Olympic Association (B ...

and

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in the 200m butterfly swimming event, and was the 2011 World silver medalist at that distance. Following a disappointing 2012 Games, Gandy expressed an intention to swim for

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, having lived and trained there since 2007, and served a period of ineligibility in order to do so. She represented Australia for the first time at a FINA World Cup event in Eindhoven in August 2013. She competed for Australia at the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games (), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014 (; ), were an international multi-sport event celebrated in the tradition of the Commonwealth Games as governed by the Commonwea ...

but failed to medal. Gandy did not qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics, effectively ending her elite swimming career. Under her new flag, Gandy broke the Australian and Commonwealth short-course 200m butterfly record. She remains the British long course record-holder in 100 and 200 metre butterfly, and 4 × 100 metre medley.

Swimming career

At the age of 13, Gandy was selected by talent scouts to be a member of Britain's Smart Track squad of super talents formed by performance director Bill Sweetenham. As a 16 year old she competed at the 2008 Olympics in the 200 m butterfly. On 19 March 2009 Gandy swam a European record time in the women's 200m butterfly at the British Championships in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

. Her time of 2:04.83 beat the previous record of 2:05.61 set by Poland's

Otylia Jędrzejczak Otylia Jędrzejczak (; born 13 December 1983) is a Polish swimming (sport), swimmer. She was the Olympic champion from 2004 Summer Olympics, 2004 Athens in the 200 metre butterfly stroke, butterfly. She finished 4th in this event in the 2008 Su ...

and was almost two seconds faster than

Jemma Lowe Jemma Louise Lowe (born 31 March 1990) is a former British international butterfly swimmer and British record holder. She has competed for Wales in the Commonwealth Games, and was a member of Great Britain's 2008 and 2012 Olympic teams. Car ...

's previous British record. In 2011 at the World Championships in Shanghai, Gandy claimed silver in the 200m butterfly. She was second to

Jiao Liuyang Jiao Liuyang (; born August 6, 1991) is a Chinese swimmer, who specializes in the 200-metre butterfly. Career She competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics and finished second in the 200 m butterfly in a time of 2:04.72, behind her teammate Liu Z ...

, China's Olympic silver medallist of 2008, and ahead of the bronze medallist

Liu Zige Liu Zige (, born 31 March 1989) is a world record-holding professional swimmer from China. She swam for China at the 2008 Olympics, where she won the women's 200m butterfly in a new world record of 2:04.18. Career She won the women's 200m butte ...

, Olympic champion for China in 2008. Gandy secured her place in the British team for the

2012 Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

with victory in the 100 m and 200 m butterfly in the trials at the

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

. At the Olympics she finished in 19th place. She competed for Australia at the

Personal life

Gandy started school at Balgowan Primary School,

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley. Prior to 1965, it was part of Kent. It is situated north of Elmers End and Eden Park, east of Penge, south of Lower Sydenham and Bellingham, and west ...

, UK and then went to Langley Park School for Girls,

before moving to

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

in 2007 where she attended

Carey Baptist Grammar School Carey Baptist Grammar School, commonly known as Carey, is an private school, independent, co-educational, Baptists, Baptist day school in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The school has five campuses: Kew, Victoria, Kew (ELC to Year ...

. Since her switch, Gandy has publicly adopted the first name Elly, the name by which she has been known privately in Australia. Following her swimming career, Gandy qualified to practice law in Australia, qualifying as a solicitor and working as a corporate counsel.LinkedIn Profile
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References

External links

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gandy, Ellen 1991 births Living people Australian female butterfly swimmers World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming European Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming Olympic swimmers for Great Britain Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games swimmers for Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists for England Commonwealth Games silver medallists in swimming Swimmers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Swimmers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2010 Commonwealth Games British emigrants to Australia British expatriate sportspeople in Australia Naturalised citizens of Australia Swimmers from the London Borough of Bromley People educated at Carey Baptist Grammar School People from Bromley 21st-century Australian sportswomen

Swimming career

Personal life

See also

References

External links