As a former able-bodied competitive swimmer, she is annoyed by the idea held by some able-bodied swimmers that paralympic swimming is a "joke". "The Paralympics are so much harder than the able-bodied side of sport. I know from first hand. It's way harder"; Mortimer said that she knew "truckloads of able-bodied athletes who constantly make fun of the Paralympics". She hopes for a change in attitude, noting how much change fellow medalist Benoit Huot has seen since the 2000 Paralympics in Sydney.