A double Paralympic gold medallist is hoping her world-record setting story of becoming the first blind woman to swim the English Channel will inspire a new wave of swimmers at an upcoming festival in Solihull.

After Leamington Spa-based swimming teacher Melanie Barratt recently completed the gruelling 21-mile swim from Dover to Cap Gris Nez beach in 12 hours and 20 minutes – beating the average swim time by nearly an hour - the 47-year-old is now turning her attention to making a splash at the free British Blind Sport Junior Swim Festival, where children and teenagers will have the chance to meet Melanie.

The event is organised by British Blind Sport in partnership with Swim England and is being held at Tudor Grange Leisure Centre in Solihull on Sunday, November 10^th between 1pm and 5pm.

Melanie, who won Paralympic swimming gold medals at Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000, is set to share her medals with festival visitors, while also passing on swimming tips to youngsters looking to enhance their skills and those having a go for the first time.

Melanie was born with congenital toxoplasmosis, leaving her blind in her left eye and able to see close shapes and colours with her right – and eventually took up competitive swimming thanks to support from British Blind Sport.

The upcoming Swim Festival in Solihull brings together blind and partially sighted young people aged three to 17, and is a mixture of competitive and fun swimming, and also includes swimming and diving lessons from Swim England.

The festival is a legacy of the See Sport Differently campaign that recently concluded, which was funded by Sport England, and was a partnership between RNIB and British Blind Sport to get more blind and partially sighted people involved in sport and activity, and feeling the benefits as participants or spectators.

Melanie said: "Swimming the English Channel means more to me than my Paralympic medals as it means I can come to community events such as this one and inspire other blind and partially sighted people to follow in my footsteps.

"It was at an event like this with British Blind Sport where it all started for me, and I want to be able to continue giving something back as it changed my life.

"Two years ago, when I started my preparations for the English Channel challenge I couldn't see anything at all in the water and had no way of communicating, but thanks to bone conducting headphones, it meant I could swim underwater whilst being spoken to in order to guide me.

"It makes me sad that there are people with sight loss out there who may be missing out on engaging in any type of sport and the positive things that come with it, such as socialising and boosting confidence.

"Growing up with partial sight was lonely for me at times, but through my love of swimming I have made so many great friends and I want other people to have those opportunities, too.

"I'm really looking forward to attending Tudor Grange Leisure Centre on November 10^th to tell my story in the hope it will spur others on to take swimming up either as a hobby or even competitively."

Three quarters (76 per cent) of people with a disability want to be more active, according to latest research from the Activity Alliance – a finding that British Blind Sport chief executive Alaina MacGregor is aiming to address.

Alaina added: "We know first hand that sport has the power to change lives, which is why our overriding aim is to create equal opportunities of sporting access for those with sight loss – and our upcoming Junior Swim Festival in partnership with Swim England is one example of this.

"When Mel hands out medals to our participants on 10^th November, we know they will come with tonnes of inspiration and encouragement to our young people that they can achieve their dreams."

For more information about the free British Blind Sport Junior Swim Festival visit www.britishblindsport.org.uk/events/2024/11/bbsjuniorswimfestival