Having just exited her teens and still at the peak of her powers Ellie Simmonds yesterday acknowledged that her status as the sweetheart of the nation's Paralympic team is under threat.

The random nature of the selection of events for involvement of Paralympic sports at last year's Commonwealth Games meant she missed that gathering and was instead concentrating on building upon a mound of medals that would be the envy of Smaug, but she saw enough to realise that another golden girl had emerged.

"I didn't come up because we were preparing for the Europeans, but I watched it on TV and saw the likes of Erraid Davies who swam incredibly getting her bronze medal and I'm sure she's going to be one to watch for the future," said Simmonds, standing at the edge of the Tollcross pool where the wee, fair-haired Shetlander shone last summer.

"She caught the nation's heart as well and it's great to have people like her who are still getting people motivated and still catching people's hearts after London. It's great for the legacy of Paralympic sport."

The tribute was unprompted and delivered in as generous a tone as would be expected from a young woman with whom an audience is, predictably, the perfect antidote to a Monday morning.

Davies was just 13, the same age Simmonds was when she broke into the public consciousness at Beijing in 2008, but it was in London in 2012 that she properly began to play a part in changing attitudes.

"What London did to showcase Paralympic sport was incredible and it showed the whole world what Paralympic athletes are," says Simmonds.

"We are just athletes, we are the same as Olympians, we train as hard as the Olympians and it was great that GB had a part to play in the Paralympic movement."

The impact went well beyond sport, playing a huge part in evolving attitudes, a process in many ways encapsulated in how the "The Last Leg" - originally commissioned for the London Paralympics - has now been given a regular slot on network television.

There may, then, be considerable scepticism regarding the follow-through on much of what was claimed about the on-going benefits of hosting the Olympics, but Simmonds believes there is no doubt about the gains made from staging the Paralympics.

"I haven't been on it but it's great that a show which was just for the Paralympics is still on and getting the message across," she said (an invite is surely in the post).

"There's all this thing about 'is legacy happening?' and it's great. You can see it with this competition this weekend. There's so many youngsters coming up in the ranks who were inspired by London and even Beijing, who previously never thought they could be sportspeople."

Having done so much for that cause at such an early age the opportunity now arises, as she prepares for another global event - this summer's IPC Swimming World Championships in Glasgow (July 13-19) - for us to witness Simmonds' bid to continue her gold rush into her twenties and while the nature of the British team trials held at the Tollcross pool last weekend meant those in attendance were denied seeing her emerge triumphant from races, she feels she is on course.

"They were multi-classification events so it's not about who touches first, it's about the points we get and I achieved my qualification standard in 200 IM and 400 freestyle. My main thing coming here was to qualify, so I'm really happy," she explained.

Having also competed at Tollcross in last year's European Championship trials, Simmonds believes the British team will have a significant advantage that can be maximised by a home crowd.

"After the home advantage we had in London it would be great if people could come here and support all the GB athletes," she said.

"I really like this pool, it's a fast pool and to see the achievements last year at the Commonwealths, when the home nations, Scotland, Wales, England and Northern Ireland all swam incredibly, gives you real confidence that it is great and world class.

"At the moment I haven't got my eye on what I want to achieve this year at the Worlds but it would be great to do personal bests. That's always my aim and world records are a bonus on top so if I do that I'll be walking away a very happy lady."

We all hope that is the case because everyone wants to see that winning smile again.