Will Ellard still reaches new heights in the pool at Paris 2024

Will Ellard may be completely exhausted, but he is still setting personal bests in Paris 2024.

The 18-year-old won two gold and one silver medals at his first Paralympics, but only finished fifth in the men’s 200 m individual medley and thus missed the podium.

It’s an event that isn’t high on Ellard’s priority list, but after setting a world record and personal best in the 200-meter freestyle earlier this week, the swimmer posted a new time of 2:11.17, improving yet again in the individual medley, even as his busy schedule began to take its toll.

“I felt much more tired than this morning, it’s been a long few days,” he said. “I’m really exhausted. It will be nice to spend some time with my family after Paris.”

“I still have the 100 meter backstroke ahead of me, but that is not a goal of mine. So it would be nice to achieve a personal best there too, without surpassing it.”

Ellard is not lying when he talks about his busy schedule: with four individual events and a relay, the Loughborough College swimmer has five tough days of competition ahead of him at his first Paralympics.

In the consecutive races, Ellard has focused on keeping his mental strength at its peak during the racing phases to ensure that he does not lose his concentration.

And with the atmosphere electrifying around the ParalympicsGB swimming team, who have won 14 gold medals in the pool so far, Ellard revealed there is no shortage of excitement and he will return to Paris to set more records.

“I’m enjoying the games,” he said. “Now it’s about going back to the village, getting some sleep and trying to recover before we start again.”

“It all depends on mental strength. It helps when there is always a great atmosphere in the village and in the team and you can have fun.”

Her swimming colleague Olivia Newman-Baronius from Loughborough College finished sixth in the women’s 200m individual medley with a time of 2:32.50, making her the fastest runner to qualify for the final.

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