All change for Ellie Cole

“I am really hoping to take the sport of Para swimming, particularly the 100m freestyle, to another level and the only way I can do that is by training with those girls and training a sprint programme.”

She may be a six-time Paralympic gold medallist and a three-time world champion but Australia’s Ellie Cole is proof that the world’s very best athletes never stop looking to improve.

Earlier this month the 27-year-old swimmer moved house, switched coach and changed her training programme. Not only that, she has signed up to work with a man who has never worked with a Para swimmer before and is embarking on a sprint-focused regime for the first time in her career.

“I am really unsure how it’s going to go,” Cole laughs. “I have been to three Paralympic Games – Tokyo will be my fourth – and I am still trying new things, which is really cool. I am pretty lucky to be able to do it. It will be hard but I think it will be worth it.”

Pushing to the next level

The new coach in the spotlight is Simon Cusack. The fact that he is the man in charge of steering Cate and Bronte Campbell, the multi Olympic and World Championship-winning sisters, to the Tokyo 2020 Games is huge for Cole.

“I did pretty well in Rio but my times weren’t where I wanted them to be. So I left pretty disappointed,” says the S9 swimmer who won the 100m freestyle, 100m backstroke and two relays at London 2012 before defending her 100m backstroke title in Rio and winning the 4x100m freestyle relay.

“Being able to train next to the Campbell sisters – they are two of the most motivated athletes I have ever met – and having to try and keep up with them in training is going to really push me to the next level.

“I am really hoping to take the sport of Para swimming, particularly the 100m freestyle, to another level and the only way I can do that is by training with those girls and training a sprint programme.”

Tough choice

Not that it was easy for Cole to make the switch. First, she had to reassure herself she was making the right decision – a process that, after five years of being with the same coach, took “more than 12 months” of deliberation. Once she had made up her mind, however, the really hard part started.

It took all of Cole’s persuasive power to convince Cusack, who had never coached a Para swimmer and was not certain he fancied the burden of adding the Paralympic Games to an Olympic Games schedule. But after a week of watching the one-legged Cole power through the water, he was more than ready to take her on.

“He seems really excited about trying new things. He has been coaching for a long time but he is still discovering new things like I am,” Cole reports happily. “He’s already changed a few things with body position, breathing patterns. He wants me to be able to get my stroke rate up a bit higher which I haven’t been able to do in the past.”

New approach

Intriguingly for Cole, the new man in charge also has an entirely fresh way of looking at her sport.

“He always tells me that swimming is a pulling sport and so me missing a leg isn’t a big deal,” she says. “It’s been really interesting training with the Campbell sisters because they don’t really do too much kick work, whereas all my old training programmes have been all about kick, kick, kick.

“He (Cusack) is really into the upper body strength which plays into my field a bit. The Campbells are absolute machines in the gym though, so it’s going to be about developing my strength over the next two years.”

Crucially for Cole the benefits of buddying up with the Campbells are not just limited to the gym and the pool. Cate Campbell is just five months younger than Cole and all three are “focused on exactly the same goals” and just “get it”, according to the Paralympic champion.

All-in-all, it seems like the perfect move for one of Para sport’s most dedicated athletes.

“For me it is about not only getting back to where I was in London (in 2012) but I want to go faster,” Cole says simply. “I just care about posting faster times. Simon thinks I can do it and I really want to give it one last crack.”