After having her leg amputated due to cancer, she trained in swimming and began competitive swimming in 2003.
First competing internationally at the 2006 IPC Swimming World Championships, she won a silver medal.
Since then, she has won medals in the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships, the Commonwealth Games, the Paralympic Games, the IPC Swimming World Championships, and various national championships.
Following the 2012 London Paralympics, where she won four gold and two bronze medals, she returned to swimming at the 2015 IPC Swimming World Championships, winning five medals, including three golds.
She represented Australia at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Paralympics, the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics where she claimed her 17th medal. Ellie was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2014.
Most decorated Paralympian receives ‘AM’
AUSTRALIA’S most decorated female Paralympian and Granville resident, Ellie Victoria Cole OAM has now been made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to sport as an advocate for diversity and inclusion.