WEBVTT - Ellie Cole // Paralympics, Pathway Pivots, Parenthood And Publishing Her First Book 0:00:00.000 --> 0:00:01.639 I think the thing that really kept me going being 0:00:01.680 --> 0:00:04.040 a paralympian was people telling me that I couldn't do it, 0:00:05.680 --> 0:00:08.200 and that's that was the big motivation. I just get 0:00:08.240 --> 0:00:12.320 really excited throughout my life by really challenging situations or 0:00:12.360 --> 0:00:16.040 really challenging moments, and being bad at something is the 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:19.360 most challenging thing we can face at times, So I 0:00:19.400 --> 0:00:20.680 love being bad at things. 0:00:21.560 --> 0:00:25.439 Welcome to the sees the Yay Podcast. Busy and happy 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:28.520 are not the same thing. We too rarely question what 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:31.319 makes the heart seeing. We work, then we rest, but 0:00:31.520 --> 0:00:34.599 rarely we play and often don't realize there's more than 0:00:34.640 --> 0:00:37.400 one way. So this is a platform to hear and 0:00:37.560 --> 0:00:40.919 explore the stories of those who found lives They adore 0:00:41.120 --> 0:00:41.800 the good. 0:00:41.600 --> 0:00:42.400 Bad and ugly. 0:00:42.520 --> 0:00:45.360 The best and worst day will bear all the facets 0:00:45.400 --> 0:00:50.920 of seizing your yay. I'm Sarah Davidson or Spoonful of Sarah, 0:00:51.040 --> 0:00:53.559 a lawyer turned fu entrepreneur whos wapped the suits and 0:00:53.600 --> 0:00:56.400 heels to co found Matcham Maiden and Matcham Milk. Bark 0:00:57.000 --> 0:01:00.240 Czya is a series of conversations on finding a life 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:03.720 you love and exploring the self doubt, challenge, joy and 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:10.720 fulfillment along the way lovely neighborhood. I am so excited 0:01:10.760 --> 0:01:12.520 about our guests this week. I know I say it 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:14.960 about every single guest, but it truly is a privilege 0:01:15.000 --> 0:01:17.280 to get to sit down with such incredible people. I'm 0:01:17.319 --> 0:01:20.440 just especially excited about this person because We've been trying 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:22.640 to line it up for such a long time, and 0:01:22.680 --> 0:01:25.480 I've been fangirling over her for even longer than that. 0:01:26.120 --> 0:01:29.080 But as always, the Universe, in its infinite wisdom, worked 0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:31.320 out the perfect timing for us in the end, so 0:01:31.360 --> 0:01:33.840 that this chat would come out the very same week 0:01:34.040 --> 0:01:37.120 as her first incredible book. Most of you will already 0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:40.320 know Ellie Cole as one of many things, our most 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:44.880 decorated Australian female Paralympian of all time, a sought after 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:48.960 public speaker, a talented TV presenter, and for around the 0:01:49.000 --> 0:01:51.440 same time as me, actually a boy mum, which I've 0:01:51.560 --> 0:01:54.280 loved bonding over with her over the past year or so. 0:01:54.920 --> 0:01:57.640 But as of this week, she can now add published 0:01:57.680 --> 0:02:01.160 author to the lineup, releasing her beauty full book Felix 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:04.320 and His Fantastic Friends into the world, with the main 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:07.000 character based on her son Felix. The book was born 0:02:07.040 --> 0:02:09.280 out of Ellie's passion to change the way we think 0:02:09.320 --> 0:02:11.560 about difference and to do so from a young age. 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:15.080 So it follows able bodied Felix through the playground, teaching 0:02:15.120 --> 0:02:17.800 him how to make playtime magical with all kinds of 0:02:17.800 --> 0:02:21.160 different friends who have all kinds of differences. It's such 0:02:21.280 --> 0:02:26.280 a heartwarming, powerful extension of Ellie's already passionate advocacy. And 0:02:26.360 --> 0:02:28.320 of course you'll hear more about how it came about 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:31.320 and why she's excited in the episode. But I got 0:02:31.400 --> 0:02:34.960 mine or Teddy's copy this morning, just before I recorded 0:02:34.960 --> 0:02:37.359 this intro, and it was so special to pour over 0:02:37.400 --> 0:02:41.720 the beautiful, colorful pages. It's illustrated by Carolyn Keyes, and 0:02:41.800 --> 0:02:44.440 the pages are just filled with color and joy. But 0:02:44.520 --> 0:02:46.720 to pour over those pages having just had this chat 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:49.400 was really special. And of course Teddy isn't reading just yet, 0:02:49.400 --> 0:02:52.359 but to have this tool to introduce him to kinds 0:02:52.400 --> 0:02:55.400 of differences with the right language and with the right 0:02:55.520 --> 0:02:57.880 magic is I'm just so grateful to Ellie and so 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:00.760 excited for this book to come into the world. I 0:03:00.800 --> 0:03:04.160 also love that instead of recording this during her decorated 0:03:04.160 --> 0:03:06.600 swimming career, which was when we first started talking about 0:03:06.600 --> 0:03:11.079 the podcast, we ended up chatting after her retirement turned reinvention, 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:13.920 which touches on all the themes we love on this 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:18.360 show about identity, definitions of success, and finding new happiness. 0:03:18.880 --> 0:03:20.840 I had about two hours sleep though the night before, 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:23.200 and you'll hear me apologize to her multiple times but 0:03:23.639 --> 0:03:26.960 not doing what I felt didn't do her justice. But 0:03:27.040 --> 0:03:30.200 luckily she's as eloquent as she is talented, so my 0:03:30.440 --> 0:03:34.600 terrible questions were no obstacle to her sharing so many 0:03:34.600 --> 0:03:36.960 pearls of wisdom. It was such a great episode, and 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:39.200 I hope you guys enjoy as much as I did. 0:03:40.320 --> 0:03:42.680 Ellie Cole Welcome to Ceza. 0:03:42.720 --> 0:03:45.920 Oh yay. I actually did that ironically quite naturally. 0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:48.560 It's so on brand. 0:03:49.000 --> 0:03:52.520 I'm so excited for this. This has been years in waiting. 0:03:52.680 --> 0:03:55.560 It has, but I also feel like our relationship has 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:58.400 kind of been like years in development, Like we followed 0:03:58.400 --> 0:04:01.320 each other for ages on social media before we met 0:04:01.360 --> 0:04:04.000 one day at that event, and it was just so 0:04:04.240 --> 0:04:06.120 nice because I gave you a big hug and I 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:08.560 felt like we'd known each other for ages, and I've 0:04:08.560 --> 0:04:09.880 still kept following from afar. 0:04:10.080 --> 0:04:11.680 I know, you know what I love about going to 0:04:11.760 --> 0:04:15.480 social events now in twenty twenty five is you're surrounded 0:04:15.480 --> 0:04:17.320 by usually a lot of people that you don't know, 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:19.719 but thanks to social media a lot of the time, 0:04:19.760 --> 0:04:21.440 you do follow quite a lot of people who might 0:04:21.480 --> 0:04:23.000 be in the same room as you, so you've got 0:04:23.000 --> 0:04:24.440 a lot of conversation starters. 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:26.800 I know, and I'm that person who's like, I just 0:04:26.880 --> 0:04:29.000 met someone I've never met them before. But how is 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:30.800 your dog's bet appointment two days ago that I. 0:04:30.720 --> 0:04:31.279 Know all about? 0:04:31.360 --> 0:04:34.680 Because I'll just out myself for being a stalker, which 0:04:34.720 --> 0:04:36.520 is kind of creepy, but I actually really like it 0:04:36.560 --> 0:04:38.600 because I think you know, with us, for example, we 0:04:38.680 --> 0:04:40.800 both became mums at the same time, and even though 0:04:40.800 --> 0:04:42.960 we don't live close together, we've been able to share 0:04:43.000 --> 0:04:46.240 that chapter kind of following each other's journeys online. 0:04:46.320 --> 0:04:48.599 I know, I think I've related hard to all of 0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:49.960 your social media content. 0:04:50.279 --> 0:04:51.800 You're not getting any sleep. 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:54.440 Oh my god, I feel like I was at Teddy's 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:56.320 first birthday party, even though I wasn't. 0:04:56.920 --> 0:05:00.000 But I'm definitely riding the journey with you. Oh my god. 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:01.680 You guys were there in spirit and it. 0:05:01.760 --> 0:05:04.680 Yeah, has been really nice to have this motherhood journey 0:05:04.800 --> 0:05:07.120 in common with you. But one thing we don't have 0:05:07.240 --> 0:05:10.280 in common is that I would call myself the opposite 0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:13.520 of an elite athlete these days, and yet you are 0:05:13.920 --> 0:05:18.200 the most decorated Australian female paralympian of all time and 0:05:18.240 --> 0:05:21.920 it has been a joy to follow your career. Congratulations 0:05:21.960 --> 0:05:24.599 on everything that you've achieved. We're so lucky to have you. 0:05:24.720 --> 0:05:25.600 Thank you. It's strange. 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:28.200 I retired about two years ago and I reflect on 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:30.560 my career now and you know, I hear things like 0:05:30.600 --> 0:05:33.080 what you've just said, and I feel like a completely 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:36.320 different person, Like my whole swimming career never even really happened. 0:05:36.880 --> 0:05:39.799 But it's nice because you know, I've got my metals framed. 0:05:39.839 --> 0:05:42.520 They're hanging up in my gym. They look pretty impressive 0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:45.640 obviously on my wall, and it is a nice reminder 0:05:45.680 --> 0:05:50.360 of what I once was. I don't know, just even 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:52.880 just after tears for like a completely different person and 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:55.120 gives you a bit of perspective I think on just 0:05:55.160 --> 0:05:58.960 how people can really reinvent themselves and change so much 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:02.440 based on you know, where they tie their identity to now. 0:06:02.480 --> 0:06:05.720 Obviously uptime, my identity very closely to being Felix's mum 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:08.800 and working in the media now, and I suppose Yet, 0:06:08.880 --> 0:06:10.279 like I said, when I look back at my career, 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:12.599 I'm just like, that doesn't feel like that was me 0:06:12.800 --> 0:06:14.960 doing all of those things. Like I watch videos of 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:16.960 my racism, like that's not me, but it is. 0:06:17.240 --> 0:06:18.880 Yeah, that's so fascinating. 0:06:19.120 --> 0:06:21.159 I kind of had the same even a couple of 0:06:21.160 --> 0:06:23.240 weeks after Teddy, that I didn't remember the person I 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:25.600 was before or the life that I had before, even 0:06:25.640 --> 0:06:27.799 though that'd be my whole life up into that time. 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:31.279 And for you, it's not just motherhood but also retiring 0:06:31.400 --> 0:06:33.920 from a career that had been your whole life up 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:34.680 into that point. 0:06:34.880 --> 0:06:37.360 Yeah. Now I just kind of watch sport as a 0:06:37.400 --> 0:06:40.240 fan the same as everybody else does. But I, yeah, 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:43.120 definitely have an understanding of the hard work and effort 0:06:43.279 --> 0:06:46.680 and sleep deprivation and exhaustion and pressure that you put 0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:49.960 on yourself when you go through that experience. But definitely 0:06:50.040 --> 0:06:53.040 still in my honeymoon phase like two years after. Although 0:06:53.080 --> 0:06:54.919 I still wake up quite early with Felix, I'm not 0:06:54.920 --> 0:06:56.760 waking up at four o'clock in the morning anymore. 0:06:56.800 --> 0:06:56.880 So. 0:06:57.880 --> 0:07:00.920 I think being an athlete for like almost twenty years 0:07:01.120 --> 0:07:03.920 prepared me so well for being a mum, because like 0:07:03.960 --> 0:07:06.599 being a mumm is exhausting, it's very similar to actually 0:07:06.600 --> 0:07:10.120 being an athlete. And I feel like, you know, if 0:07:10.560 --> 0:07:13.040 you've gone through all of the experiences of training for 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:15.440 a Paralympics or training for an Olympics, and you know, 0:07:15.880 --> 0:07:18.560 being so exhausted but having to pull yourself out of 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:20.640 bed and getting the job done anyway, that's exactly what 0:07:20.680 --> 0:07:21.360 being a mum is. 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:26.640 It's a perfect training ground. Well, I'm actually really glad 0:07:26.680 --> 0:07:28.680 that it ended up taking us so long to record 0:07:28.680 --> 0:07:31.280 this because when we first started talking, you were still 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:34.160 an elite athlete in the heights of your career, and 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:35.840 that would have been amazing to catch you in the 0:07:35.840 --> 0:07:38.600 moment for many reasons. But I actually think it's more 0:07:38.720 --> 0:07:41.880 powerful to talk to you now when you're a couple 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:44.840 of years into a whole new chapter, because what comes 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:48.400 up the most on CZA is the idea that our 0:07:48.480 --> 0:07:52.120 life and our ya unravels in multiple chapters. You can 0:07:52.160 --> 0:07:55.120 spend your whole life in one mindset, but often life 0:07:55.160 --> 0:07:57.280 will lead you into something else completely where you have 0:07:57.400 --> 0:07:59.440 to let go of an old identity and form a 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:02.559 new one, and let go of old ways of looking 0:08:02.560 --> 0:08:06.440 at success and joy and fulfillment and metrics for measuring 0:08:06.440 --> 0:08:08.760 your life to find new ones. But that transition can 0:08:08.800 --> 0:08:11.760 be so difficult. So I'm so grateful that we've caught 0:08:11.800 --> 0:08:14.720 you at this particular time in your life. But the 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:17.120 other thing we look at is the flip side who 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:20.000 you were before that, who you were leading up to 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:22.080 that moment, because we can walk into your life at 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:25.240 this chapter, and all the dots make sense looking backwards, 0:08:25.240 --> 0:08:26.960 of course they do, but I'm sure there were many 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:29.560 times going forwards that you had no idea where you 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:31.680 would end up. So I like to go all the 0:08:31.720 --> 0:08:35.120 way back to childhood earlywhere it all began. But particularly 0:08:35.160 --> 0:08:38.480 for you being diagnosed with a neurosarcoma at two years 0:08:38.520 --> 0:08:41.959 old and having a part of your leg amputated at 0:08:42.000 --> 0:08:44.280 such a young age, I would love to start there. 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:47.839 Your childhood in the Lilyddale and Howard all unraveled. 0:08:48.000 --> 0:08:49.000 Yeah, lily Dale. 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:52.120 So most people probably don't know where lily Dale is, 0:08:52.160 --> 0:08:54.880 but it's in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. I grew 0:08:55.000 --> 0:08:57.600 up in this place called Mount Evelyn, rightnear lily Dale, 0:08:57.640 --> 0:09:00.480 and it was in a log cabin that my dad 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:03.800 had built, and I even slept on these like beds 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:06.040 that my dad had made out of logs, Like it 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:09.439 was very rustic, like that experience would go for a 0:09:09.480 --> 0:09:12.800 lot on Red Balloon or Airbnb right now. And I 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:17.160 even had like stained glass windows and just lived in 0:09:17.200 --> 0:09:19.319 this beautiful hills of Melbourne. 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:21.480 But it was kind of pretty idyllic. 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:25.839 However, I suppose the experience of being diagnosed with cancer 0:09:25.880 --> 0:09:28.520 when I was too maybe wasn't as idyllic as the 0:09:28.760 --> 0:09:31.200 kind of environment that I was growing up in. So 0:09:31.280 --> 0:09:34.319 my childhood did start off pretty rough with a cancer diagnosis. 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:37.240 I underwent a whole year of chemotherapy. But at the 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:40.079 age of two when this all happened, I wasn't really 0:09:40.160 --> 0:09:42.200 sure what was happening at the time. Like I knew 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:44.920 that I was sick and there was something wrong, but 0:09:45.160 --> 0:09:47.760 I didn't really understand the gravity of a cancer diagnosis 0:09:47.760 --> 0:09:50.000 at the age of two. And I feel for my parents, 0:09:50.120 --> 0:09:52.679 especially now that I am one looking back, you know 0:09:52.720 --> 0:09:55.240 how they supported not only me going through that, but 0:09:55.280 --> 0:09:58.000 my other siblings. When I had three other siblings back 0:09:58.000 --> 0:10:02.079 at home. That whole journey of my family's life being 0:10:02.080 --> 0:10:04.360 turned upside down must have been awful for them to 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:07.400 go through and then yeah, I woke up one day 0:10:07.440 --> 0:10:09.959 and my parents were told that I would need to 0:10:10.000 --> 0:10:12.679 have my leg amputated. This is when I was just 0:10:12.720 --> 0:10:15.680 turned three years old and went into the operating theater 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:17.640 and came out and all of a sudden had a 0:10:17.640 --> 0:10:22.040 disability and was devastating for my parents because they didn't 0:10:22.040 --> 0:10:23.600 know anybody that had a disability. 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:24.960 This was in nineteen ninety four. 0:10:25.120 --> 0:10:28.800 You didn't see anyone with a disability on television or 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:32.559 really in the communities, being successful in the workplace or 0:10:32.600 --> 0:10:33.320 anything like that. 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:35.880 And I think that was the thing that. 0:10:35.840 --> 0:10:38.480 Really scared my parents is that I was this young 0:10:38.520 --> 0:10:40.840 three year old girl who was going to go through 0:10:41.000 --> 0:10:44.440 my whole life and against all of the odds all 0:10:44.440 --> 0:10:48.960 of the time, and not really have any opportunities. But 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:51.439 I was really fortunate that I have a twin sister. 0:10:51.520 --> 0:10:52.320 Her name's Britney. 0:10:52.480 --> 0:10:54.280 Oh my gosh, I didn't know that. 0:10:54.480 --> 0:10:55.680 I do have a twin. Say. 0:10:55.720 --> 0:10:58.000 She was amazing for my recovery. You know, she taught 0:10:58.000 --> 0:10:59.760 me how to walk again. There's like these really cute 0:10:59.760 --> 0:11:03.040 FAMS videos where I'm wearing my prosthetic and I have 0:11:03.120 --> 0:11:05.320 to learn how to walk again. There's a video of 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:07.560 her like when I'm falling over, she picks me up, 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:10.280 gives me a cuddle, and encourages me to keep going. 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:14.439 Oh Early, I think back to those like those videos 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:17.720 and the support that I had around me, and I know, 0:11:17.920 --> 0:11:19.840 for me, I just had my family there, and it 0:11:19.880 --> 0:11:22.199 was my family who were picking me up literally every 0:11:22.240 --> 0:11:25.280 single time that I fell over, teaching me that I 0:11:25.360 --> 0:11:27.640 could do or be anything that I wanted to be. 0:11:27.840 --> 0:11:29.760 And so I was really fortunate to have a really 0:11:29.800 --> 0:11:32.760 good family support network there. And then my sister and 0:11:32.840 --> 0:11:36.120 I we just went exploring, you know, we went out 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:38.000 into the big wide world. I was a little bit 0:11:38.000 --> 0:11:41.920 different obviously than I had been before, but we rode 0:11:41.920 --> 0:11:46.840 our bikes, we jumped off you know cliff faces. We 0:11:47.679 --> 0:11:49.959 went out into the world and didn't come back until 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:53.440 dinner time. And as far as I was concerned, I 0:11:53.559 --> 0:11:56.160 was exactly the same as every other kid. I didn't 0:11:56.160 --> 0:12:00.240 really understand the social stigma around disability because I was 0:12:00.280 --> 0:12:02.760 in my bubble of my family and it wasn't really 0:12:02.840 --> 0:12:05.320 until I went to school. The kids were great at 0:12:05.360 --> 0:12:08.040 my school. Like when you introduced disability to a child 0:12:08.040 --> 0:12:09.800 and you explain it to them, they get over it 0:12:09.800 --> 0:12:10.240 and move on. 0:12:10.360 --> 0:12:10.959 Very quickly. 0:12:11.280 --> 0:12:14.000 It was actually more the teachers that were probably a 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:17.200 bit cautious about letting me do things that other kids 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:20.160 were doing that they perceived could have maybe hurt me, 0:12:20.360 --> 0:12:22.280 or you know, I think they were scared about putting 0:12:22.280 --> 0:12:24.560 me in an environment where I was most likely going 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:27.600 to fail because of my disability. And it's almost like 0:12:27.640 --> 0:12:31.440 the teachers had this preconceived idea of what I could 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:33.760 or couldn't do, and that was probably the thing that 0:12:33.840 --> 0:12:37.679 damaged my confidence the most. But then I always had 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:39.800 my family to come back to. So yeah, it was 0:12:39.800 --> 0:12:42.560 certainly a really interesting time to grow up with a disability. 0:12:42.559 --> 0:12:44.160 In nineteen ninety four, we were kind of on the 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:47.720 brink of people even knowing that people with disabilities existed. 0:12:47.920 --> 0:12:52.680 But I was really fortunate, actually to lose my leg 0:12:52.679 --> 0:12:55.120 at a young age and to not know any differently, 0:12:55.160 --> 0:12:59.839 and to grow up probably learning the lesson about adaptability 0:12:59.840 --> 0:13:03.920 and really being agile and being really creative with problem solving. 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:06.680 I think learning that from a really young age set 0:13:06.720 --> 0:13:08.040 me up really well for the rest. 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:08.400 Of my life. 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:12.079 So I've always seen my disability as a real blessing, 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:14.640 and I know that that can be really confusing for 0:13:14.679 --> 0:13:17.800 people who have just nearly acquired a disability. But from 0:13:17.880 --> 0:13:20.320 every paralympian that I've ever met, or anybody that I've 0:13:20.440 --> 0:13:22.880 known that has had a disability for a really long time, 0:13:23.280 --> 0:13:27.120 they are the most resilient, creative, impressive people that I know. 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:29.840 And that's because we have had to overcome a lot 0:13:29.880 --> 0:13:33.439 of hardship, and we have had to be so self 0:13:33.480 --> 0:13:37.200 confident in what we can achieve, and we put ourselves 0:13:37.200 --> 0:13:39.960 in positions that not many people go through in their 0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:43.360 whole life, and so I've really been blessed with it 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:45.880 in the end, my hips not so much, in my 0:13:45.920 --> 0:13:50.600 back not so much. But I look back at the 0:13:50.640 --> 0:13:52.920 success that I had in my swimming career and wonder 0:13:52.960 --> 0:13:55.520 if I would have achieved that being an able bodied athlete, 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:57.600 and probably not. I probably would have given up when 0:13:57.640 --> 0:14:00.560 I was like ten years old, because I think the 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:02.760 thing that really kept me going being a paralympian was 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:06.199 people telling me that I couldn't do it, and that 0:14:06.760 --> 0:14:07.640 was the big motivation. 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:10.680 Well, you have well and truly proven anyone wrong who's 0:14:10.720 --> 0:14:14.160 ever doubted you even for a moment, with your incredible achievements. 0:14:14.160 --> 0:14:16.280 I was reading your Wikipedia trying to put together the 0:14:16.280 --> 0:14:18.760 buyer for this episode, and I mean it'd fill an 0:14:18.840 --> 0:14:21.920 entire episode. You've not just been a retired Paralympic, you've 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:25.120 been a wheelchair basketball player as well, So talk about 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:30.160 multi talented, but I mean in the Paralympics alone, seventeen medals, 0:14:30.400 --> 0:14:36.160 six gold, five silver, six bronze from four different Paralympic games. 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:40.320 Such an incredible career and an amazing example as well 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:45.560 that so much of our confidence and our belief, even 0:14:45.560 --> 0:14:47.600 what we will attempt to try in our lives, can 0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:50.560 be shaped by what other people perceive to be possible. 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:53.520 So interesting what you said about your teachers, that them 0:14:53.720 --> 0:14:55.960 trying to stop you trying things because they thought you 0:14:56.000 --> 0:14:58.960 couldn't did really affect your confidence. But then on the 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:02.880 flip side, have such amazing family support and your twin 0:15:03.280 --> 0:15:05.800 just believing you could do anything and letting you try. 0:15:06.000 --> 0:15:08.480 How powerful that can be. And I think outside of 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:11.760 disability extrapolating for anyone in anything they attempt to do 0:15:11.880 --> 0:15:15.000 that other people's beliefs can be so limiting, but they 0:15:15.000 --> 0:15:17.960 can also be full of possibility. And I think I 0:15:18.000 --> 0:15:21.080 was reading that, you know, after your amputation, they said 0:15:21.120 --> 0:15:24.200 it would take a year to regain certain types of movement, 0:15:24.280 --> 0:15:26.720 but that you were back in the swimming pool eight 0:15:26.760 --> 0:15:27.360 weeks later. 0:15:27.440 --> 0:15:30.800 Yeah, it wasn't anything to do with my parents being like, right, 0:15:30.880 --> 0:15:34.080 let's make her a Paralympian straightaway. No, the swimming lessons 0:15:34.080 --> 0:15:38.640 all started because of rehabilitation. Rehabilitation happens a lot through 0:15:39.120 --> 0:15:42.760 swimming because it's an environment, aquatic environments, you know, they 0:15:42.800 --> 0:15:45.200 take the pressure off all of the joints and you 0:15:45.280 --> 0:15:47.360 learn how to use your body again without having to 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:50.160 fight with gravity so much so, a lot of our 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:55.760 Paralympic swimming superstars actually all started in rehabilitation pools, which 0:15:55.800 --> 0:15:59.280 is pretty incredible. It's probably very insensitive for me to 0:15:59.320 --> 0:16:01.600 go down to a rehabilitation pull and find our next 0:16:01.720 --> 0:16:06.840 paralymic superstar, but yeah, it's fascinating that, you know, I 0:16:06.880 --> 0:16:09.640 was thrown into the pool for rehabilitation, and never would 0:16:09.640 --> 0:16:11.640 I have imagined in those moments that it was going 0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:13.720 to open up all of the opportunities for me that 0:16:13.760 --> 0:16:15.520 my parents were scared that I was never going to have. 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:18.160 It was amazing. I did go around in circles for 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:18.960 a while. 0:16:19.240 --> 0:16:22.080 I related very heavily to finding Nemo when it came out, 0:16:23.520 --> 0:16:27.880 But that's so cute, but yeah, it took me I 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:30.520 think six or seven weeks of swimming a straight line. 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:32.880 Wow, that's fast. 0:16:33.320 --> 0:16:35.240 It is fast, And I think the big reason being 0:16:35.320 --> 0:16:37.280 is because I was chasing my twin sister. You know, 0:16:37.360 --> 0:16:39.520 she was thrown in there with me actually for a 0:16:39.520 --> 0:16:42.240 bit of support. Then I went through the normal learned 0:16:42.240 --> 0:16:45.080 to swim program that all able bodied kids go through, 0:16:45.200 --> 0:16:48.200 and yeah, I was kind of just integrated into able 0:16:48.240 --> 0:16:51.320 bodied land, which now I guess in a way, I'm 0:16:51.360 --> 0:16:54.000 fortunate that I have a type of disability where I 0:16:54.080 --> 0:16:56.640 can do a lot of things that able body people 0:16:56.680 --> 0:16:56.960 can do. 0:16:57.120 --> 0:16:57.680 I don't have. 0:16:57.800 --> 0:17:01.120 I'm not higher needs. So I did just kind of 0:17:01.120 --> 0:17:05.680 fall into that mainstream able bodied swimming and was very competitive. 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:07.080 So I wanted to be as fast as all of 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:10.360 the kids that had two arms and two legs. And 0:17:10.400 --> 0:17:13.600 I think even things like when I was just doing 0:17:13.680 --> 0:17:16.480 kick so only using legs, it's like a drill that 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:18.680 we do in swimming, I wanted to be the fastest 0:17:18.720 --> 0:17:21.240 and I knew that I had like fifty percent less 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:23.760 power than they did, but I managed to be like 0:17:23.800 --> 0:17:25.920 the fastest kicker in my program. 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:26.120 With one leg. 0:17:26.359 --> 0:17:29.720 No way, little things like that really set me up 0:17:29.800 --> 0:17:32.520 to be really successful in the Paralympics. I never imagined 0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:35.440 the Paralympics when I first started swimming, because I didn't 0:17:35.480 --> 0:17:36.640 know about the Paralympics. 0:17:36.960 --> 0:17:37.520 All I wanted to. 0:17:37.520 --> 0:17:39.320 Do was just be the fastest kid in the pool, 0:17:39.480 --> 0:17:41.120 and it just opened up all of these doors. 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:43.960 It is so crazy that you barely knew about the 0:17:43.960 --> 0:17:46.760 Paralympics and then went on to become our most successful 0:17:46.800 --> 0:17:50.320 female Paralympian in history. And it gives me goosebumps to 0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:54.000 think just the importance of visibility and how little Ellie 0:17:54.000 --> 0:17:56.800 couldn't aim to be a Paralympian if she'd never seen 0:17:56.840 --> 0:17:59.400 anyone do that or didn't know they existed. And there 0:17:59.480 --> 0:18:02.040 might have been other young people who grew up at 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:06.240 the same time who didn't aim for greatness like you 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:09.560 have because they didn't think they could. I love that 0:18:09.720 --> 0:18:12.399 your family, and especially having a twin sister, who just 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:14.520 didn't sort of allow it to be a limit, just 0:18:14.640 --> 0:18:17.320 let you go and try and see what you could achieve. 0:18:17.920 --> 0:18:20.560 I love that that meant you weren't hampered in the 0:18:20.600 --> 0:18:23.239 way that other people might have assumed you were. And 0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:25.359 I also love thinking that there are young people who 0:18:25.440 --> 0:18:27.720 have followed your career in this day and age and 0:18:27.760 --> 0:18:30.920 started forming their dreams and sense of possibility for themselves, 0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:32.880 which I know has become a passion in this next 0:18:32.920 --> 0:18:35.320 chapter of your life as well, which will come to 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:40.160 But just that importance of visibility and trying and seeing 0:18:40.200 --> 0:18:40.960 what you can do. 0:18:41.160 --> 0:18:43.600 Yeah, and I think I love that definitely does come 0:18:43.640 --> 0:18:46.280