Five-time Paralympic swimming champion Ellie Simmonds has joined the British Athletes Commission (BAC) as its new Athlete Voice and Representative Co-ordinator.Simmonds, who called time on her swimming career after Tokyo 2020 – the fourth Games at which she competed – will work alongside the BAC’s approximately 1,200 members to ensure that their voices are heard, listened to and acted upon within the high-performance system.Of the new role, she said:“I’m delighted to be joining the BAC – an organisation whose support I was able to utilise at various stages of my swimming career.“My career spanned a number of years, and I was able to gain a huge amount of knowledge and first-hand experience of the kind of environments in which athletes can truly thrive, both as competitors and people.“The support that the BAC offers to its athletes is excellent, and I’m looking forward to continuing to develop avenues for athletes to give their opinions, shape their sporting environments and enhance their personal development, all of which will contribute to British athletes enjoying genuinely positive career journeys.”Simmonds will work with athletes from the 42 Olympic and Paralympic sports which the BAC represents, as well as liaising with the organisation’s network of Athlete Representatives – a role which Simmonds held during her own career – as they share cross-sport best practice and develop mechanisms to ensure that the athlete voice is amplified.Vicki Aggar, BAC Chair, said:“We’re really excited to welcome Ellie on board. She’s one of the most recognisable faces in British sport, and brings with her a wealth of experience and knowledge.“Her passion for using this experience to ‘give back’ to elite sport and British athletes shines through, and she will play a key role at the BAC, helping athletes to thrive and making their career journey as positive and as fruitful as it can be.“We are an organisation run by athletes for athletes, and alongside recent additions to our Board in Asha Philip and Hollie Pearne-Webb, and Ellie will add invaluable insight from an incredibly distinguished Paralympic career to our team.”