Ella Eyre explains why she ended her swimming career to pursue singing

Updated

Ella Eyre has explained why she called time on a swimming career to pursue singing.

The Waiting All Night musician, 26, had initially hoped to pursue her passion in the pool but was advised by a doctor to quit or risk losing her hearing.

Speaking on the first episode of the Dangerous Dinners podcast, she said: “I did not turn my back on my swimming career. My swimming career turned its back on me.

“I got such bad ear infections because I was training a lot.

Ella Eyre
Eyre has since had chart success (Lia Toby/PA)

“I was in the pool four hours a day so I was training two hours in the morning going from school and then two hours after school and then on the weekends competing.

“But then I was spending so much time in the pool that my ears were getting infected so badly that I was missing training and then eventually my timings were getting slower.

“And spending that much time in a swimming pool when you’ve just discovered cigarettes and boys doesn’t really hang in there.

“But also, disclaimer, I got advised by a doctor to quit otherwise I was going to potentially lose my hearing eventually.”

Eyre said she used to compete in butterfly and explained: “There’s logic behind it because I chose it because there’s not many people that can be bothered to do it, so I don’t have that many competitors.

“So at one point I was like the fourth fastest person in London.”

The first episode of Dangerous Dinners Podcast is out now on iTunes, Spotify and Google.

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