Quotes from Ellie Simmonds

After watching the Athens Paralympics in 2004, I looked at the swimmers and thought, that's cool. I want to do that.

As a swimmer I know how important it is to be fit, healthy and eat well.

People come up to me and say, 'You're that swimmer.'

I've got to go out there and do a job and focus on swimming and do my own thing, and I think us athletes can go out there and perform no matter what... This is what we train to do.

Swimming is only half of your life, so you have to think about what you're going to do afterwards.

I was really keen on horse-riding, too, but I knew I had to give it up to give more time to swimming.

I grew up swimming. Our first house in Aldridge, in the West Midlands, had a pool at the bottom of the garden.

My mum took me to swimming lessons when I was very young, four years old.

I was 8 when I started swimming training, but it wasn't until I was 10 when it became more serious so over the next few years I slowly developed a better understanding of my diet.

I don't wear jewellery and I don't care about shoes and dresses. But I love my handbags. They're my real luxury.

I think what I'm most proud of about myself away from the pool, is being OK on my own.

I feel I cope with pressure quite well.

Monday to Fridays I'm practically an athlete every hour of the day.

For me I normally rise up to a Paralympics, I love those pressured environments.

In Beijing when the Chinese athletes had a massive roar that gave me a buzz pretending they were shouting for me.

I've always been competitive and determined. It's part of my personality.

You only live once and you need to enjoy life, to go out and achieve whatever you want to.

As an older woman now, I feel the pressure more, I feel all those different aspects, I'm more aware of that. Whereas as a 13-year-old, as a 17-year-old, you just do swimming, you're just doing it as sport where you don't really think of all the outside bits.

I'm a big, big fan of cheesecake, so I love baking that.

I made my first World Championships team at 12.

I have a coach, a physio and a psychologist.

I've thought about doing sports psychology at university, but it's quite hard.

People expect you to get golds and it puts so much more pressure on you and if you don't it's like you have let yourself down. It is nerve-racking.

I've always been focused.