OLIVER BROWN'S CHOICE - ELLIE SIMMONDS
Fighter jets at take-off have created less noise than the cacophony that greeted Ellie Simmonds’ first gold at the Aquatics Centre.
The poster girl of Britain’s Paralympic team delivered a thrilling performance for her triumph in the S6 400 metres freestyle, producing a late surge to eclipse American rival Victoria Arlen and spark a fervid reception of which even Mo Farah would have been proud.
To be in that arena on the first Saturday night was to sense a profound and palpable affection for the country’s diminutive heroine. Simmonds, born with achondroplasia, stood just 4ft tall on her starting blocks and yet responded with a chemical intensity to the chlorine.
Aptly, as she realised the scale of her accomplishment from the ear-splitting clamour, she cried.
There is a breathless effervescence about Simmonds that endears her instantly to her audience. But there is also a determination.
Her swimming stroke in the last two lengths of the 400m might have looked frantic but it reflected her resolve to kick for glory, as she drew in the lungfuls of air needed to sustain her more truncated action.....Picture: GETTY IMAGES