Ella Ramsay

Ella Ramsay realised the dream of becoming an Olympian just like her dad did.

Competing at her debut Olympics in Paris with a packed schedule, she didn't come back to Australia empty handed. Her role as a heat swimmer in the women's 4x100m medley relay team earned her an Olympic silver medal.

Ella’s dad Heath Ramsay, also her first coach, represented Australia as a butterflyer at the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

Emulating her father at the Olympics continued the family’s special journey in the pool, after Ella made the 2022 Commonwealth Games team for Birmingham 20 years after Heath competed in the Manchester 2002 Commonwealth Games.

“Being on the same boat as Dad and now being called an Aussie Dolphin is pretty sick … so hopefully, like him, I will be able to compete in the Olympics one day," Ella said at the time.

The Ramsays join the McKeons (Ron and Emma) and the Nays (Robbie and Meagen) as father-daughter duos who have swum for Australia.

At 16 years old Ella claimed a remarkable 14 medals at the 2021 Australian Age Championships, winning 10 events, including in the 50m, 100m and 200m freestyle, 100m breaststroke and 200m and 400m individual medley. She also defended five titles at the 2022 championships.

In Birmingham, Ella reached the final of her only event, the 200m individual medley. She also reached the semi-finals at the world championships in Budapest in the lead-up to the Games.

Ella improved solidly through 2023 and has enjoyed an outstanding season in 2024 – finishing second to Kaylee twice in the 200m and 400m individual medleys at the Australian Open Championships on the Gold Coast.

She completed a rare double at the Sydney Open in May 2024, adding the 100m breaststroke to her opening night victory in the 400m freestyle.

Ella nailed down her place for Paris a month later when she finished first in the 200m breaststroke, and second behind Kaylee McKeown in the 200m individual medley and second in the 100m breaststroke at the Australian Swimming Trials in Brisbane.

She put an exclamation mark on her Olympic program when she won the 400m individual medley on the final night of competition, in a time of 4:36.56.

“My dad and I are really competitive, so it will give me bragging rights if I go to Paris with more events than he did in Sydney,” she said.

Like she did at the Commonwealth Games two years prior, Ella made the women's 200m individual medley final at the Olympics. She finished seventh in that event Kaylee won bronze in.

Also in Paris Ella placed fifth in the women's 400m individual medley and 12th in the women's 200m breaststroke.