A world-record holder by the age of 13 and Olympic champion soon after she had turned 15, it is difficult to overstate the prodigious talent of Team England swimmer Ellie Robinson.
Still only 16, Robinson added a Commonwealth Games title to her Olympic crown on the opening day of action on the Gold Coast yesterday, storming to the top of the women's 50m butterfly podium with an emphatic victory by almost two seconds.
The performance was all the more remarkable considering Robinson - usually in the S6 class - was 'swimming up' in the S7 division and still managed to produce such a dominant display.
Following her success, Robinson spoke to Sports Mole to discuss why she has been able to focus more on her 50m performances recently, her plans for the future and making Prince Charles proud.
Congratulations Ellie - you're an Olympic and Commonwealth champion at 16 years old! How does that feel?
"It feels amazing, really, especially for the Commonwealth Games and to finally stand on the podium, it was a massive weight just lifted off my shoulders."
You did it in such style as well. Did it surprise you to win so comfortably in an S7 event?
"Yeah I was really surprised - I knew that swimming S-class could be a challenge and to be honest I prepared myself for that and I was really, really shocked to turn round and see that I'd won it. So yeah, fantastic."
How did you celebrate your victory?
"I got back fairly late so I just got back and went to bed! My roommate was swimming today, so we couldn't really celebrate too much honestly.
"So I got back and had to stay fairly quiet, because she got up really early today. I think the main celebrations will be when everybody has finished, all the swims are done and we can properly celebrate everyone's success."
This must be a big boost halfway on the road to Tokyo as well...
"It's really great for confidence going into Tokyo. It was really nice being able to have that reassurance for the race and knowing that I have the ability to perform well under pressure. It's really great to have that knowledge going into Tokyo."
Speaking of pressure - were you aware that Prince Charles was in attendance?
"I didn't actually know that, wow! I wasn't aware... hopefully I made him proud!"
England had success earlier in the night too with Aimee Wilmott and then Tom Hamer directly before you both winning gold - did that inspire you?
"Well I knew that Aimee had won and I knew that Tom had a very good chance of winning.
"When people succeed then that builds an atmosphere around the camp and when you've put in all the hard work in training and then you're sat in the call room, all you need to do is be in the right place psychologically. So when you have that atmosphere surrounding you it's great having that to take that into the race."
The mood in the Team England camp must be flying now after that first night in the pool...
"Yeah, well everyone was really happy - it's good because even though it's really early in the competition, everyone's got that motivation to keep performing right throughout."
What's it like being in this Team England camp rather than the usual Team GB setup?
"Honestly, it's similar really. It's nice because you have these friendly rivalries with the home nations.
"It's just an extra sort of motivation when you're racing against the home nations, but then when you're finished and you get away, you have those friendships with them as well. A lot of the swimmers that I know swim for Scotland and Wales, so it's nice being able to cheer them on as well."
So you're not putting these friendships on hold for a couple of weeks then?
"Definitely not, no. The only time I'd do that is in the call room before my race."
That was your only event at these Games, so what are your plans for the remainder of your time out here?
"The rest of the Games is just doing some aerobic training, keep ticking over, and then when I get back to the UK it will be straight back into home programme training and then trials for Europeans."
What are your plans for the buildup to Tokyo?
"For my classification being an S6 swimmer, I only have the 50m butterfly as an event. The 100m freestyle has been taken away, so for my Paralympic events I've now got the 50 butterfly, 50m free and 400m free, so I'll be hopefully working towards those in Tokyo."
Has the fact that the 100m has been taken away helped you focus even more and enjoy more progress in the 50m?
"I think having an event taken has really helped motivate me in my own events. It showed me that things change constantly and you have to keep working because things can be taken away from you.
"People have had best events taken from them, so it shows that you have to enjoy it while you can and keep working hard because anything can happen."
Barney Corkhill
