Suffolk Swimmer at Paris Paralymic Games

Wednesday, 28 August 2024 07:00

An athlete from Beccles will be competing in the Paralympic Games which start in Paris today.

William Ellard is set to make his Paralympic debut in Paris despite only turning to the competitive side of the sport less than two years ago.

He set to race in a number of swimming events - with his first race is on Friday morning - when he takes part in the S14 100 metre Fly - and he’ll also be competing over the weekend, including a relay on Sunday.

The teenage swimmer has quickly emerged as one of the biggest rising stars in the sport and is sure to be one to watch throughout the ten days of para swimming action at La Defense Arena.

His breakout year in 2023 saw him win three medals on his international debut at the World Championships in Manchester as well as multiple World Series medals.

Explaining how he started his swimming and para-swimming journey Will told Swim England: “My sister’s two years older than me and she started proper lessons when she was about six years old.

“I think if it wasn’t for her then I wouldn’t have even got into learn to swim really. I then moved to Saint Felix School when I was around 11 or 12 years old and I’ve been there ever since.

“Nick (Thompson), who’s my current coach, his auntie used to be the head coach at the club and knows Jackie Marshall quite well.

“She was on the phone with him once and he said ‘we need more intellectually impaired swimmers’ and she said, ‘we might have one or two.’

“So they spoke to me about it. I didn’t want to do it for the first two weeks because I didn’t know what it could become but they got me into doing it and it’s just been great.

“Jackie first came down to where I was, and got me onto it and I then went up to race and it just changed everything for me really.

“The trials for the World Championships in Manchester was my first ever Para meet so I went there and I still didn’t know what to really expect with para swimming.

“A week later, I got selected for my first team, and I didn’t realise how good para swimming would be. There’s nothing quite like it really, it’s so inclusive and just out of this world, really.”