Winning silver medal at the World Para-Swimming Championship was “unexpected” for Ela!
A swimmer from Gwynedd was "not expecting at all" to win a silver medal at the World Para Swimming Championships in Singapore.
Ela Letton-Jones, 18, from Felinheli was competing for the first time and representing Britain.
She is delighted after coming second in the 100m backstroke competition held over a week ago.
She also competed in the 100m butterfly, 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, and 200m individual medley all within the week.
Ela said: “I was surprised! You don’t know until you’ve hit the wall in the end! I would have been happy improving my time but I’m thrilled I got a medal.”
Ela enjoys swimming in major competitions and hearing the noise and support of the crowd helps her.
She said: “I swim better when I’m under pressure. There’s something inside me that gives me strength.”
Ela has been swimming from a very young age after she and her sisters Alys, 21, and Carys, 16, had lessons at Plas Menai and Caernarfon swimming pool.
Ela is registered blind with albinism, which is a lack of pigmentation in the body, including the eyes, hair and skin.
The condition occurs in one in 20,000 people world-wide.
It means Ela can’t see further than a metre in front of her.
Since childhood, Ela and her family have been supported by the North Wales Society of the Blind, and her advice to other children with visual impairment is: "Don't let it hold you back. People will then see you for what you can do. It should not stop you physically."
Ela said: "Every child is different. I'm not 'Ela with a visual impairment'. You should not let a visual impairment define who you are.
"When you are in the pool, you are on your own. Psychologically, there is nothing more satisfying than practising and moving your body."
She added: "Swimming is certainly a good way to do something different from school work and a very good way to mix with other people."
Ela's goal now is to qualify for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028. But until then, she keeps her feet on the ground.
Ela's family was at the airport to welcome her back from Singapore last week before she started a new chapter of going to college.
And the family’s home in Felinheli was beautifully decorated to welcome Ela home.
Now Ela has just started studying Criminology at Manchester Met College.
She chose this college because it is home to the Manchester Water Centre which boasts an Olympic-size 50m swimming pool where the British para swimming team trains.
Ela has also previously competed in France and Italy and was just a second and a half away from going to the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024!
She hopes to represent Wales in the Commonwealth Games next year.
Her father, Iolo, said: “Ela is grateful for the support she has received from the North Wales Society of the Blind especially with touch-typing and text reading machines.
“With swimming, it’s obvious there is no need for technical assistance.
“The Society has been there for Ela – even though she hasn’t used that many of the resources. And we know the staff. They have always been there for us.”
