Maisie Summers-Newton

Reason: She was inspired to try the sport after watching British swimmer Ellie Simmonds compete at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. (paralympic.org, 20 Sep 2018) Ambition: To win gold at the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris. (insidethegames.biz, 23 Oct 2022) Awards: She received the Para Swimmer of the Year and the Maurice Watkins Champion Athlete awards at the 2023 British Swimming Awards. She was also named British Swimming's Para Swimmer of the Year for 2021/22. (northamptonchron.co.uk, 25 Sep 2023; Instagram profile, 18 Sep 2023; britishswimming.org, 17 Sep 2023, 15 Sep 2023) In 2022 she was named Disability Sportswoman of the Year at the Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year Awards. (thetimes.co.uk, 20 Nov 2022) She was appointed Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire [MBE] in the 2022 New Year Honours list. (bbc.co.uk, 01 Jan 2022; northantstelegraph.co.uk, 31 Dec 2021) She was named Young Sportswoman of the Year and Disabled Sports Person of the Year at the 2019 Northamptonshire Sports Awards in England. She was previously named Disabled Sports Person of the Year at the 2017 edition of the awards ceremony. (communitysportmagazine.co.uk, 26 Nov 2019; northamptonshirecommunityfoundation.wordpress.com, 24 Nov 2017; northamptonshiresport.org, 11 Nov 2017) In 2017 she was named Emerging Athlete of the Year by British Swimming. (BritishSwimming YouTube channel, 04 Nov 2017) In 2015 she was named Para Swimming Athlete of the Year by the Amateur Swimming Association [ASA]. (ASA YouTube channel, 16 Nov 2015) Additional Info: BEATING HER IDOL At age 10 she was inspired by watching British swimmer Ellie Simmonds compete at the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. She raced against Simmonds in the SB6 100m breaststroke at the 2018 European Championships in Dublin, Ireland, where she set a world record to win gold ahead of Simmonds in second place. She also claimed two gold medals ahead of Simmonds at the 2020 Paralympic Games in Tokyo. "I love racing against Ellie. She's such a great swimmer and I'm so proud of what she's achieved. It's pretty cool to beat your idol. Having her there is really supportive and comforting in a way, knowing she's done it for such a long time. She's became an incredible friend." (SportsDeskOnline, 18 May 2022; northamptonchron.co.uk, 26 Aug 2021; paralympic.org, 20 Sep 2018) BECOMING A SCHOOL TEACHER She began training as a primary school teacher following the 2020 Paralympic Games, and has undertaken school placements. "I was definitely more nervous to teach than I was to race in Japan [at the 2020 Paralympic Games]. It's a classroom of 28 to 30 children and it's their education - it's not just me that I'd impact if it goes wrong. I always like having something else to think about other than swimming because I think it gets a bit too intense sometimes. And if you think about the same thing over and over again, it just isn't going to work." (Instagram profile, 18 Sep 2023; bbc.com, 09 Aug 2023; thetimes.co.uk, 01 Aug 2022) OTHER ACTIVITIES She served as part of the athlete advisory group for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. (iwf.net, 21 Oct 2020)