BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • BBC Trending

Olympian criticised for swimming pool anecdote

  • Published
    13 March 2018
Share page
About sharing
Elizabeth Simmonds during the women"s open 200m IM heats at Manchester Aquatics Centre, Manchester. 24/06/2014Image source, Press Association
ByPatrick Evans
BBC News

When Lizzie Simmonds posted a humorous anecdote on Twitter she had no inkling of what was in store over the next forty eight hours.

"I thought a few people might think it would be funny" the British Olympian told the BBC. She was referring to a misunderstanding between her and another lady at a public swimming pool in Edinburgh last Friday.

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post by Lizzie Simmonds

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post by Lizzie Simmonds

The lady had told Lizzie she should consider pursuing the sport seriously. When Lizzie told her she'd been to the Olympics a couple of times the lady presumed she meant as a spectator not as a competitor. Lizzie found the whole interaction and her own awkwardness very amusing. "She was very sweet".

"I wouldn't usually be in a public session but I had to make up some training so I could visit my other half over the weekend in Bristol" she said.

"The lady was in the lane next to me. She naturally presumed I wasn't in a club because I was in the public session."

At first Lizzie got a positive reaction to her tweet. "That's wonderful" exclaimed an early reply to her story.

Who are you anyway?

A retweet from Piers Morgan to his 6.44 million followers helped Lizzie's post spiral to popularity, but reaction also quickly started to sour.

"Oh yes how could the world not recognize @LizzieSimmonds1....oh wait, this is the first time I've heard of you." responded one, external person.

Elizabeth Simmonds of Loughborough University competes in the Womens Open 100m Backstroke Semi Final during day two of the British Gas Swimming Championships at The London Aquatics Centre on March 4, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)Image source, Getty Images

Lizzie was surprised both by her story's popularity and the hostility.

"I did the tweet in the morning and checked backed a few hours later and I was like wow that was more likes than anything I've got from swimming." At the time of writing her tweet has been liked by more than 200,000 Twitter users.

"Some people read it in the exact voice that I meant it and other people read it like I was arrogant and expecting recognition. But I'd never expect that, I am not a household name, I wasn't tweeting about it because I thought I was famous! I was tweeting because I had a funny misunderstanding. People are very quick to judge on social media."

Across the pond

The reaction worsened when the US sports channel ESPN picked up on Lizzie's post and shared an image of it online. Many of their social media followers struggled to read the post in the spirit in which it was meant.

"Culturally it was taken out of context more." Lizzie explained. "99% of the comments were negative with people saying 'I have no clue who you are?'"

"Lol @ the fact that she thinks she's famous..."wrote @joshgotpix.

Another user agreed: "based on this interaction, she sounds incredibly pompous, as if the lady was supposed to know who she is?"

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post 2 by Lizzie Simmonds

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post 2 by Lizzie Simmonds

Lizzie was also branded a liar as people suggested the encounter had not even taken place.

"Yeah, this 100% didn't happen though, thanks a lot." responded one, external user.

This baffled Lizzie. "There seems to be a twitter award, external for people who make things up to get likes. A lot of people nominated me for it. I said it's not that unlikely to happen!"

Some comments were simple misogyny "I bet she's really good in the kitchen, where she belongs." one person posted.

This X post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser.View original content on X
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Skip X post 3 by Lizzie Simmonds

Allow X content?

This article contains content provided by X. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read X’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’.

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
End of X post 3 by Lizzie Simmonds

"The whole episode was a beautiful analogy of the Internet." Lizzie said. "I had people throwing nasty insults and people judging me without knowing who I was. Then on the other side I had people who again don't know me and were completely defending me. I guess social media has lots of positives and negatives. It's been an interesting eye-opener. You read about this sort of stuff but don't expect it to happen to you."

It has made the swimmer reflect on the huge opportunities for misunderstanding inherent with social media. "In my head I read it (the tweet) the way it happened in real life. It seems like a lot of people in America read it in a different way. I never considered people would think I was ridiculing an old lady."

Top stories

  • Live. 

    Trump says Israel and Hamas have agreed to first phase of Gaza peace deal, paving way for ceasefire

    • 13836 viewing14k viewing
  • 'Momentous opportunity': World reacts to first stage of Gaza peace deal

    • Published
      2 hours ago
  • What we know about the 'first phase' of the Gaza peace deal

    • Published
      2 hours ago

More to explore

  • Stars, secrets and slip-ups: Celebrity Traitors is off to a cracking start

    Claudia Winkleman sitting in an armchair in the Traitors castle in Scotland
  • Young children taking knives to school, BBC finds

    Graphic: Knives in foreground, in background children sitting at school desks.
  • 'I'll axe stamp duty' and 'My Maddie hoax agony'

    Newspaper headlines: Tories vow to scrap stamp duty and Madeline McCann's parents give testimony in alleged stalking case
  • 'It was like a movie' - How immigration raid on Chicago apartments unfolded

    Image of law enforcement officer pointing a gun, with sparks in the background
  • Inside the room where Nobel Peace Prize is decided – but will Trump get his wish?

    Members of the Nobel Peace Prize committee and secretary sit around a table in the room where they make their decision
  • 'I cried every day': Victoria Beckham tells of fashion woes in new Netflix doc

    Victoria Beckham in a green dress
  • The battle for Scotland's flag: Why the right has adopted the saltire

    A man raises his fist while standing in front of a group of people waving flags, including saltires and a union flag.
  • How Britain's membership of the ECHR became a political hot potato

    Montage image showing Nigel Farage, Kemi Badenoch and Sir Keir Starmer
  • The Upbeat newsletter: Start your week on a high with uplifting stories delivered to your inbox

    A graphic of a wave in the colours of yellow, amber and orange against a pink sky
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    Kate warns too much screen time damages family life

  2. 2

    America's top banker sounds warning on US stock market fall

  3. 3

    Have Russians set up a military base in my childhood home?

  4. 4

    'I'll axe stamp duty' and 'My Maddie hoax agony'

  5. 5

    Water bills to rise further for millions after appeal

  6. 6

    Stars, secrets and slip-ups: Celebrity Traitors is off to a cracking start

  7. 7

    Young children taking knives to school, BBC finds

  8. 8

    'I cried every day': Victoria Beckham tells of fashion woes in new Netflix doc

  9. 9

    The battle for Scotland's flag: Why the right has adopted the saltire

  10. 10

    Liberal Democrat membership has halved in 5 years

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

Best of the BBC

  • Rom-com starring Aimee Lou Wood and Nabhaan Rizwan

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    Film Club has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    Film Club
  • Exposing a pro-Russian fake news operation

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    Global Eye has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    Global Eye: Inside a Pro-Russian Fake News Operation
  • Leonardo DiCaprio discusses his new film

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    Movies With Ali Plumb has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    Movies With Ali Plumb: Leonardo DiCaprio in Conversation
  • The rise and downfall of Margaret Thatcher

    • Attribution
      iPlayer

    Added to Watchlist
    Thatcher: A Very British Revolution has been added to your iPlayer Watchlist.
    Thatcher: A Very British Revolution
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.