Video transcript

My Duvet Flip with Will Ellard Transcript

I'm William Ellard, I'm a Paralympic swimmer, for ParalympicsGB. This is my duvet flip with NatWest Thrive.

When did swimming start for you? When I was about 12 years old, I was like, "Oh, I can be quite good at this." What's your advice to young people when it comes to finding their full potential? You've got to do things that you don't like sometimes to realise, "Oh, I'm actually quite good at what I do." Where do you get the termination to keep going? You want to be inspirational to younger people. What is your advice to those who may lack encouragement or confidence? Just take one step at a time. Because if you take too many, then you can override yourself. What's your duvet flip? What gives you out of bed in the morning? That's the main question. That is the main question.

Welcome to my duvet flip special edition with NatWest Thrive. How are we today? Very good, thank you. Yeah it was a good journey up. And yeah, very nice here to have a nice view from the top. And yeah. It's not a bad view, is it? Very good. You can see everything. You can see everything from over here and back here. You can see Wembley Stadium and yeah, it's pretty special. Sometimes it gets a bit foggy, so you can't see it sometimes. And I love it when you can actually see it because then you know it's a good day. Yeah.

I want to start here though, Will. Like, tell me a little bit about your life and like your... Where did it all start? Like, when did swimming start for you and how did you kind of get into the pool?

Yeah, so when I was about... I don't know, everyone loves swimming when they're about two years old. It's a life skill that everyone needs to have. But because of my sister, she's two years older than me, she started swimming lessons when she was about five years old. That's when I got into it. And then when I was about 12 years old, I was like, "Oh, I can be quite good at this." Obviously because of my impairment, obviously Paralympics. I didn't realise I could be quite good until I was about 13. I was like, "Oh, I can start winning medals." And then I was about 16, so about two and a half years ago. 19 now. So that's when I started to become a professional at it. And yeah, it's just gone from there really and had a really good experience last two years when I came onto the scene in 2023. And had a lot of opportunities since then. And yeah, it's just gone from then and Paralympics.

You're doing incredible. Like, do you ever like sit back and think to yourself, "Wow, look what I've achieved." You've achieved an amazing thing and you keep achieving amazing things. Do you ever just like have to take a moment to go and take it all in? Like, how do you kind of take the moment to reflect?

Yeah, so obviously last year, Paralympics, like 14,500 people up in the crowd. I didn't think anything special, but afterwards, that's when people were like in my town, like, start to know me. I'm only in a small town, Beccles, I think 10,000 people live there. So it's not too many. It's London, something like this. But yeah, that's when I started to realise, oh, I'm actually quite good at what I do. And Paralympics, I thought, oh, there's nothing special in it, but it was coming up and up more and more. So that's when I realised like, I'm actually quite good at it, but I don't really, I'm not really one to express like all my swimming and everything like that. Like, oh, I'm really good at it. I try and keep it low key with my family and I love my family and friends and things like that.

And how important is it to have the right network? You talk a little bit about your family and your friends. I know you got a family member here today. But like, why is it important to build that really good network around you? Yeah, obviously with my impairment, intellectual, got autism. So I went to a private school and to have that network around me, obviously extra time, someone to write for me and spell for me and stuff like that. And obviously having my family, they helped me a lot on the journey. And that's why people with autism, I wanna show them how you can get there and obviously with some support, but you can do it by yourself as well. You can learn, it might take you a bit longer. But yeah, that's the one thing that's helped me is my family, because without them, I don't think I'd be where I am today.

And in terms of like building that network, what's your advice to young people who may be autistic? I'm dyslexic, so I can't spell for anything. I run a business and every time something comes over, I'm like, I don't know what this says, help me. But how do you build a network? Like, and what's your advice to young people when they're building their friends groups, their network?

So I think just having the right friends and the right family to help you, it's definitely helped me. I don't know if it would help other people, but I'm sure it would. Just, I don't know, over the years, it's just become normal to me to have friends that support me here and there. And it's obviously really important to have that. Obviously with your dyslexia, I've got that as well, but it's not as high as my autism and things like that. So it might not affect me the same, everyone's different. But yeah, I think having a really good network is the pinnacle of, well, everyone's sport, no matter the Olympics, Paralympics, I think that's what helps everyone really. I personally, my dyslexia has become my superpower. You probably could see today, oh Jack, you have no notes on the table. And I do this in every interview I do. It's because I'm just interested in the person. But if you started putting notes on the table, I would become the most worse interviewer that you'd ever meet. So sometimes you have to, I see it as my superpower.

For you, like how does, what's your advice to young people when it comes to finding their full potential? Because with NatWest Thrive, it's all about helping young people find their full potential. How do young people do that? How did you do it? Like obviously your sister was five, you was two, you first got into the pool. When you first stepped into that swimming pool, did you like it?

I didn't really like it, no. There was this lady called Hazel, yellow hat lady. I still remember it to this day. So it was obviously something I didn't like, but she'd hold me up and start kicking your legs because I didn't really kick my legs too much. But yeah, I think not having her, obviously I wouldn't be here today. So you've got to do things that you don't like sometimes. Obviously at the time when I'm like five years old, I don't understand. But I think, yeah, like you said, not having anything on the table, it's keeping it nice and simple for you, for me. Just having a chat Having a nice chat and yeah, just keeping everything.

Isn't that, I think you're totally right. You in terms of, you just got to keep going, right? To find your full potential, you have to just give things a go. Because there's so many things that when I first started, I was really bad at. And then you keep going and going. But where do you get the determination to keep going? Cause when you're competing at your level, like where does the ambition come from? Where does the drive come from?

I think obviously showing people what they can do. I want to be inspirational to younger people. And obviously I want to tell my younger self what I would have done. So if I was younger, seeing myself now, would I be proud of myself? And just, I think having fun is the main thing and just being nice to everyone in the community. And I think that's, yeah, what keeps me like down to earth. Hopefully I don't know. But I think I am quite a chill person and just take every step at a time and yeah.

Well, we've only just met, I think you're a very chilled person. And we've obviously got some common interests in terms of Lego as well. I used to like, I remember growing up, it was the only thing that I could really afford. I grew up on a council state, not much. And the only thing I got every year was a Lego box. And I tell you, I used to make like the cinema. I used to make the airport. I used to close down the airport and make out I had to refurb bit and all sorts. It was brilliant. Where does, like for you, where does fun and working hard in your profession, how do them two come together? And can you do both at the same time?

I think obviously having the balance as an athlete, you gotta have things that you like. So at the minute I play a bit of golf, with my friend. Like when I play golf, I completely blank out the swimming. That's what you gotta have. And obviously Lego, building it and stuff. I'm quite, like each piece obviously has got the Lego word on it. So that's gotta be in line, each piece. It can't be like Lego facing that way, on one brick and then Lego facing that way. So it takes me a bit longer to do it. Obviously my autism takes a bit longer, but I think that's what I'm quite good at. Lego now, you just practice over the years. It doesn't matter what you've really faced in your life. I think if you just keep practicing and practicing, that's what you become better at. That's why you're quite good at this now.

But you know what? I think that's such a brilliant message, Will, because things will come into your life that just, you just, you have no control over or it's just there and you make the best of every situation, right? And that's clearly what you've done. You've taken something, you've flipped it on its head and you come out winning.

Yeah, so I think back in the day when I was quite young, I could be like, oh, just leave that. I don't wanna do that anymore. I don't wanna do swimming anymore. I did think of that a couple of times, but you gotta think what you want to achieve at the end of the day, what's in the long run and things like that. So I think whatever you face in your life, there's people that I swim with who have no limbs, there's people that have visual impairments, anything they can achieve. I've seen people with no limbs as someone who I swim with. She's more independent than me. So it just shows, and it's very inspirational what people can do. And yeah, I think that's what I wanna show people and trying to get the message across by the end of my career.

Who inspires you? Where does your inspiration come from? Yeah, so obviously Michael Phelps, that could be the main one, but I think someone like Reece Daly, he's obviously an S14 athlete like me, which is an intellectual impairment, that's my class. I think him showing what he can do, he only came into the Para world when he I think he was about 19, so about my age now. So just seeing what he did and yeah, like what opportunities it can give you rather than, I don't know. Like autistic athletes, they go into one sport and then if they didn't go into sport, then they could find it harder to be in a more well-known job or a more wealthy job, because obviously they're impairment, but I think it gives more opportunities for the long run as well, that what they give you and obviously NatWest as well. They gave me a lot of opportunities to be here, to be everywhere else and yeah. It's cool, isn't it?

So I'm hearing really loud and clear, it's really important to surround yourself with the right friends, have the support from your family and have inspirational people that you look up to that you can be inspired by. Yeah, I think that's definitely the way to go, have someone to try and base yourself on, but then eventually I think you want to try and just be yourself at the end of the day. You don't want to be try and be someone else. I've heard people be like, oh, they're the next Michael Phelps. They're like, no, I'm the next whoever they are. Be yourself because everyone else is taken, right?

So there's also other people that have been an inspiration in your life, like your coach, right? Tell me a little bit about your coach. Yeah, so my coach, Nick, I've been with him very long time now. He's known me since I was probably 10, but I didn't swim until I was about 11 under him. So yeah, I've been with him what, nearly nine years, eight, nine years now. And I'm moving up to Manchester after the summer, so that should be quite good for me.

That's cool. That's very cool, yeah. On one of the main high streets where a lot of things go on and just a 10 minute walk to the Aquatic Centre. That's where the performance centre is for us. And that should be very cool. And yeah, for him to be up there with me is very special and him to be another part of my career. Over the years, he's helped me. He knows me very well. He probably knows me better than I know myself sometimes. So that's cool to have him support me and know what I need. Because obviously with my impairment, other people might think they, to other coaches, they might think they know me really well, but I'm actually like, you don't. Because they're probably the same as you. People don't know you the same way that you know yourself. They think they do. I remember when I used to get on trains and people were like, "Oh Jack, you like a green tea." I was like, "Oh, I was off green tea like six years ago." So it's about surrounding yourself. Especially with Nick, your coach. People that actually can help you thrive, right? And help you kind of really help you get from A to B. Yeah. So when I was younger, he just, he understood me. He's the one who got me into power. He knew that I maybe had something, he knew that I had something wrong with me through my parents and through obviously myself. And the way I do things is different, but we didn't know it would be like classification worthy to be in the Paralympics. I didn't actually want to do it for the first two weeks. I was just like, Paralympics is not big at all. But as I got onto it, they were so welcoming and given him opportunities. He's been to Berlin, Madeira and Portugal. That's where like Ronaldo used to live when he was younger. So to be there and over the years, just be in different places and it's come up so quick. And I think I've been with him probably more hours in my life probably in the last four or five years. And I've been with my parents sometimes and my sister.

Wow. What makes you happy? With all the fantastic stuff you do, like what makes you happy? I think just as long as, well, I've heard a lot of coaches say this, a happy swimmer is a fast swimmer, which I do agree with because when I'm not training my best, if I'm happy, I still swim the fastest I do. Just because you're enjoying it. And just, I think what makes me happy is making sure that my family and everyone like that is, if they're proud of me, it makes me happy. So just to have them connected to me and help me thrive in my life. And that just makes me happy as a person and just shows that they're really loving of me and that's what basically just helps me.

What is your kind of advice to other young people who are trying to find their happiness or trying to find their thing? Like you've found your thing that you love. I've found my thing that I love. But what is your message to other young people who are still trying to figure it out and be happy and find their thing?

So obviously with NatWest, you go into a lot of schools and we teach kids to be whatever they want to be really, whatever they find that they like to do, that's what they should go and do. Like no matter the limits, they should be able to do whatever they want, whether to be sport or business, whatever they like doing, I think is very special for me, very special for NatWest to help them. And to basically just, yeah, just do what they want. Go and give it a go, right? Just give it a go and if it doesn't work out, then find something else. I think that's the main thing. And just to have fun, I think that's the main point in life, just to have fun and take as many opportunities as you can. And sometimes you have to do the things that don't work out to find the thing that does work out, right?

Yeah, so when I was younger, some things that I did weren't as good as other things, but if I didn't do them, then I wouldn't be as comfortable as what I was in other things, because you got to do things that you don't feel comfortable in doing, to feel comfortable doing other things. Absolutely. Because I think that's the main point in life. If you don't do things that you're not comfortable with, you're not gonna be as experienced as it. So like me with the set here, I don't know, I've never really done it, but just talking to you is like, I would as a normal person really. And you do kind of forget that the camera's there, don't you? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I said say that, you think you just forget.

Why, like, I love what NatWest Thrive is doing, because I think it's like you just mentioned, it's absolutely brilliant. How do we kind of help young people reach their full potential and just learn also about money and stuff? Like, why did you say yes? Why are you passionate about NatWest Thrive? Yeah, so I said yes, because obviously it's a company that wants to help children financially as well, teach them about that, because obviously money's quite a tight thing for people now. It's hard for people even under the age of 30 to buy their own house and things like that. So if you teach them young and how to have their savers when they're like 12 years old and things like that, to just help them be more knowledgeable about money and things like that. So for me to teach someone, and if I can help at least one person, then it will definitely just help me know that I've helped someone, which is very special to me.

I love that, because that was literally the ethos on why we started this show. I don't care if only one person watches. If we can help one person just make a difference or think something differently that helps them become who they want to become with one. I think obviously if I teach one person, it shows that I've had an impact on that one person. That one person could go on to do something else. They could go on to own multiple buildings in London, to being another school teacher, or being myself, helping other people with NatWest Thrive.

Just yeah, basically thrive in their life and that's what it's all about. I think just to teach younger people to basically do as well as they can in life. I don't think it's all just about money. They're also helping people just do what they want to do and do their dreams, and just thrive in their life.

Absolutely. One of the things that NatWest Thrive is really doing, which I love, is helping people build the encouragement and confidence. What is your advice to those who may lack encouragement or confidence? Like when you compete, you're out there and you see all these people around in these seats and cheering and there's TVs and there's cameras. How did you build your confidence? Where did that come from?

I think just my family's always said, treat it as if you're on autopilot, basically. So when you walk out, I just looked up and I was like, "Oh, that's very cool." And then I just focused on what I had to focus on, I think focusing step by step on the next thing is all you've got to do in your life. Just take one step at a time, because if you take too many, then you can override yourself. And I think when I walk out into the stage with 14, 15,000 people there, there wasn't a single seat that wasn't filled that evening of my 200 freestyle, where I broke the world record. And I just thought, head down, I've got to do it for my family. I think I had 30 family members there, which over in Paris is pretty crazy. That is crazy. And it shows how many people support me. I

t's cool, isn't it? It's very cool. Isn't it, doesn't it just like stop and think like, you came from a town, if I remember, of 10,000 people and then you've got 14,000 people in the stand, you're like, wow, I haven't actually thought of that. There's more people than what lives in my town. Because when you said it earlier, that's the first thing I thought, like there's more people that lived in the town when you grew up. Isn't that just incredible?

Yeah, yes, never actually thought of that. It's pretty crazy to have more people in there than what's in my town. It shows how many people are there to support me. And even though it's the Paralympics, I didn't think, I thought it wouldn't even be half than the Olympics, but in some, stages, there was more people in there than the actual Olympics, so it shows how special it is. And obviously LA coming up, comes round quick. It's three years away now. I remember saying it was four years ago, but that's what I've got to aim towards. And I think if you don't work now, then you'll pay for it later. So obviously I've got Singapore coming up at the end of the year. I've had a lot of opportunities with NatWest. They've helped me work around my schedule. And I think that's really helped me.Having a balancing act between NatWest, that's why they've helped me quite a lot. So I think having Swimming and NatWest and other companies is definitely a good balance to have in life, which has helped me keep my life from my swimming and things like that.

Absolutely. And what are the small daily things, wins that you do each day, which help you thrive over a longer period? Because obviously you're getting ready for, obviously you said it was four years, it's now three years LA. What are the small daily wins that you do to thrive?

I think just, I don't know, waking up and knowing something's there to just achieve, even though you think it might be a setback in that day, it's always something that you can take away and always learn from. That's why I always say people are older than me, no matter what they do, like what their disability is, they always know more than me because they've lived longer and they've experienced more. But I also believe that anyone can learn everything from everyone, right? And they can learn from you. Older people can learn from younger people if you're willing to listen, right? And learn, and I think you've got that kind of mindset, learn from your coach, from your family, from your friends, from the people around you and kind of absorb it.

I've got one more question, are you ready for it? What's your duvet flip? What gets you out of bed in the morning to flip the duvet? That's the main question.

That is the main question. I think just waking up and, I don't know, in the early mornings, Obviously I wake up Cup of coffee? No, that could be it. When I got into coffee it was, but I think waking up and knowing that you can achieve something every single day, no matter what it is. And as soon as that duvet comes off, that's when you gotta get out of bed and get up and start your day. Like don't wait, just get up and get out. So always learn everything every day. That's a good question, that's why. I think that's brilliant. I love what you've said. You can achieve something every day if you get up and go. Yeah, that's it.

And I just wanna say thank you for joining us on the show. It's been a lot of fun. I've enjoyed getting to know you on set and off set because it's just been brilliant to get to know your story a little bit, so thank you.

 Thank you very much. There we are. That's actually quite a tough question at the end. There's so much to it. What gets you out of bed. Yeah.