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Swimmer is youngest to be honoured by the Queen
Louise Jury, Chief Arts Correspondent18 Feb 2009
Eleanor Simmonds, the teenage Paralympic swimmer, today became the youngest person to be honoured by the Queen.
Simmonds won gold in the 100m and 400m freestyle at the Beijing Games last year, becoming Britain's youngest individual Olympic or Paralympic medallist at the age of 13.
The Queen made the swimmer, who was born with achondroplasia, or dwarfism, an MBE for her services to disabled sport.
Swansea-born Simmonds, now 14, becomes the youngest recipient of an honour ahead of Michelle Lewis, who was made an MBE in 2002 aged 19.
She was joined at Buckingham Palace by Terry Pratchett, 60, the bestselling author of the Discworld comic fantasy novels.
Sir Terry, who was born in Beaconsfield, was knighted for his services to literature. He has campaigned to raise awareness of early-onset Alzheimer's disease since he was diagnosed with the condition at the end of 2007.
