Between them, there are too many Paralympic medals to count – but the Commonwealth Games will be a unique experience for both Ellie Cole and Daniela Di Toro, for vastly different reasons.

In this episode of On Side, join Tim Gavel as he chats to Ellie and Daniela as they train for the Commonwealth Games which starts on 28 July – one for the last time, the other the first.

Ellie, who has six Paralympic gold medals in her trophy cabinet, races for the final time in Birmingham, chasing that elusive Commonwealth Games gold medal.

“In my swimming career, over 17 years, I've won 17 Paralympic medals, broken something like five world records and I still can't seem to grasp the Commonwealth Games gold medal … it's the only thing that's missing from my trophy cabinet.”

It has been a long road for the swimmer, who is thrilled at the progress Para sport has made over the past 17 years and the acceptance of Para athletes in the community.

“The biggest difference that I've seen in Paralympic sport is the stigma around athletes with a disability,” Eliie says.

“I saw at the Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast that young kids were asking how to be Paralympians when they were older, and they were drawing pictures of people in wheelchairs on gold medal podiums. So they're drawing the parallel that you can still have a disability and be a champion. Whereas in 2006, you know, that conclusion was never drawn from seeing someone with a disability.”

With retirement looming, Ellie also discussed her life after swimming, which includes her role on Sport Integrity Australia’s Athlete Advisory Group.

“We have a lot to offer to Sport Integrity Australia as athletes, and it's wonderful to also be the other side of the coin, see that they’re willing to listen and wanting to understand firsthand experiences from us as well.”

By her own admission, it’s been a long time since Daniela has been called a “rookie”, having made her Paralympic Games debut in Atlanta in 1996.

After all, as a wheelchair tennis player, she has won almost all there is to win in her sport: from Paralympic medals to Grand Slam titles to a number-one world ranking.

Now competing as a wheelchair table tennis player, it will be the Victorian veteran’s first time at the Commonwealth Games.

“To be able to have a rookie experience is a really cool thing. So, you know, it's really exciting as well, the actual newness of it. I've never been on a team with able bodied and Para high performance athletes, so it's incredibly exciting,” she says.

“It’s the friendly games, which is really cool that you can kind get to be in this kind of environment that’s super ultra-competitive, but there's real awareness of community and connection and I'm looking forward to that as well.”

While she may be a senior member of the team, just don’t call her the “mother-figure” – she’d prefer to be that “cool Aunty”.