Background
Born in Walsall, Simmonds grew up in neighbouring Aldridge.
Born in Walsall, Simmonds grew up in neighbouring Aldridge.
She completed her primary education at Hydesville Tower School before attending Aldridge School and later Olchfa School in Swansea.
In 2012 she was again selected for the Great Britain squad, this time swimming at a home games in London. Simmonds, who has achondroplasia, became interested in swimming at the age of five. She swam for Boldmere Swimming Club in Sutton Coldfield, under Head Coach Ashley Cox, but she and her mother moved to Swansea when Simmonds was 11 to take advantage of the city"s world-class swimming pool.
At the age of 13, Simmonds was the youngest British athlete at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, competing in the 50m, 100m and 400m freestyle, 50m butterfly, and 200m Individual Medley.
Two days later, on the evening of 3 September, she took Gold in the 200m Individual Medley, breaking the World Record that she had set in the qualifying round that morning. She swims in the S6 disability category.
Simmonds won the 2008 British Broadcasting Corporation Young Sports Personality of the Year award. Simmonds was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (Administration Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2009 New Year Honours. At 14 years old, she became the youngest person ever to have received this honour. She received the honour from Queen Elizabeth II on 18 February 2009. In March 2012, in the 200 m individual medley, she became the first swimmer to break a world record at London"s Aquatics Centre. Her victory in a time of 3:08.14 broke her own previous best time by over half a second. In 2011, Simmonds won the award for "Best British Sporting Performance for an Athlete with Disability" at the Jaguar Academy of Sport Annual Awards. At the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London Simmonds won four medals, two golds, a silver and a bronze. She took gold in the S6 400m with a new world record. Gold in the S6 200m again with a new world record. Silver in the S6 100m and a bronze in the S6 50m. In celebration of her two gold medals, two Royal Mail postboxes were painted gold in her honour, one in Aldridge and one in Swansea. Simmonds was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to Paralympic sport.
She came to national attention when she competed in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, winning two gold medals for Great Britain, despite being the youngest member of the team, at the age of 13. Simmonds was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (Administration Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2009 New Year Honours.
