Ellen King

{{Short description|Scottish swimmer (1909–1994)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}

{{Infobox swimmer

| name = Ellen King

| image = Ellen King (1928 Olympics).jpg

| image_size =

| alt = Black and white photograph of Ellen King in 1928

| caption = King in 1928

| fullname = Ellen Elizabeth King

| nicknames =

| national_team = Great Britain

| strokes = Backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle

| club = Warrender Baths Club

| coach =

| collegeteam =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1909|1|16|df=y}}

| birth_place = Renfrew, Scotland

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1994|2|3|1909|1|16|df=y}}

| death_place = Parkgate, England

| height =

| weight =

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalSport | Women's swimming}}

{{MedalCountry | Great Britain}}

{{MedalCompetition | Olympic Games}}

{{MedalSilver | 1928 Amsterdam | 100 m backstroke}}

{{MedalSilver | 1928 Amsterdam | 4×100 m freestyle}}

{{MedalCompetition | European Championships }}

{{MedalGold | 1927 Bologna | 4×100 m freestyle }}

{{MedalCountry | {{SCO}} }}

{{MedalCompetition | British Empire Games}}

{{MedalSilver | 1930 Hamilton | 100 yd freestyle}}

{{MedalBronze | 1930 Hamilton | 220 yd breaststroke}}

{{MedalBronze | 1930 Hamilton | 4×100 yd freestyle}}

}}

File:UK Women 4x100m team 1928 Olympics.jpg

Ellen Elizabeth King (16 January 1909 – 3 February 1994){{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/47082 |title=Ellen King |work=Olympedia |access-date=20 March 2022}} was a Scottish competitive swimmer who represented Great Britain twice in the Olympics, and Scotland at the inaugural British Empire Games. King was a versatile swimmer, and competed in various backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle swimming events.

As a 15-year-old at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, although ill, she competed in the semi-finals of the 100-metre backstroke and finished with the seventh best time overall. At 15, she was the youngest member of the British team.[http://edinburghsgreatest.scotsman.com/viewgreatest.aspx?id=18 Edinburgh's 100 Greatest] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213202351/http://edinburghsgreatest.scotsman.com/viewgreatest.aspx?id=18 |date=13 December 2013 }}", The Edinburgh Evening News (Undated). Retrieved 11 December 2013.Martin Hannan, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20140610083359/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-12939805.html Scottish Sports Hall of Fame; The nominees: Ellen King (1909–1994)]", Scotland on Sunday (17 November 2002). Retrieved 14 February 2012.

Four years later at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, King won two silver medals. She won the first medal as a member of the British women's team in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay, together with her teammates Joyce Cooper, Cissie Stewart and Iris Tanner, coming second behind the American women. In individual competition, she won her second silver in the 100-metre backstroke, finishing second behind Dutch swimmer Marie Braun and ahead of British teammate Joyce Cooper.Sports-Reference.com, Olympic Sports, Athletes, [https://web.archive.org/web/20200417090432/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/ki/ellen-king-1.html Ellen King]. Retrieved 24 May 2015. King had set a new world record in her semi-final heat, only to have it broken by Braun in her own qualifying heat.

In the late 1920s King set the world records in the 150-yard and 220-yard breaststroke."[http://www.scottish-places.info/people/famousfirst1940.html Ellen King (Ellen Pearson) 1909 – 1994]", The Gazetteer for Scotland (Undated). Retrieved 11 December 2013.

At the inaugural 1930 British Empire Games in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, she won a silver medal in the 100-yard freestyle and a bronze medal in the 200-yard breaststroke. As a member of the Scottish relay team with Jean McDowell, Cissie Stewart, and Jessie McVey, she won her second bronze medal in the 4×100-yard freestyle competition.{{Cite book|last= Bilsborough|first= Peter|date= 1968|title= One Hundred Years of Scottish Swimming|publisher= Scottish Amateur Swimming Association|asin= B000QB8VIG}} On the journey to Canada, on board ship, she maintained her fitness by using a punchball.

Ellen King attended James Gillespie's High School, swam for the Warrender Baths Club in Scotland"[http://www.scotsman.com/news/wonder-of-warrender-1-979837 Wonder of Warrender]", The Scotsman (4 February 2006). Retrieved 25 January 2013. and was a swimming teacher at Edinburgh schools for 40 years"[http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/olympic-medals-are-sold-1.175795 Olympic medals are sold]", The Herald Scotland (25 August 2001). Retrieved 6 February 2013. until her retirement in 1974. In 1928, she established the Zenith Ladies Amateur Swimming Club in response to the constraints imposed on her by male administrators who did not provide her or other female swimmers in the club enough opportunities to compete. In 2002, she was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame.Scottish Sports Hall of Fame, Inductees, [http://www.sportscotland.org.uk/sshf/Ellen_King Ellen King] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130513004320/http://www.sportscotland.org.uk/sshf/Ellen_King |date=13 May 2013 }}. Retrieved 15 February 2013.