Aylesbury museum announces special event with Paralympian and record-breaking blind swimmer Melanie Barratt

The National Paralympics Heritage Trust, based in Stoke Mandeville, is hosting a special event with Melanie Barratt.

Ms Barratt won six Paralympic medals in her career, two of them were gold, and made history as the first female blind swimmer to complete a 33.5km crossing of the English Channel.

On 21 March, she will be participating in the trust’s ‘Meet the Paralympian’ series, telling stories from her decorated career when she captured European and World titles, and set eight world records.

Ms Barratt also tried her hand at judo, rowing, tandem cycling and triathlons, becoming the world Paratriathlon champion.

Recently she completed a solo open water swim in Lake Windermere swimming the length of Lake Geneva as part of an all-female relay team.

She will also be discussing her legacy and work within the grassroots and educational side of sport. During the online event guests can learn more about her own swim school and campaigns to make open water swimming more accessible to disabled children. She hopes that her story will inspire others to

push their own boundaries and achieve their dreams.

Interested parties can also ask Ms Barratt their own questions as the online events will include a question and answer section.

This event has been set up to tie in with Women’s History Month. The trust plans to split the event into two separate sessions, one for key stage 1 and key stage 2 school children. The other one is for older children and adults. More details can be found online.