Swimming blind: my journey to self-acceptance

Lives Less Ordinary

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.6 • 814 Ratings

🗓️ 13 April 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

From Paralympic pools to the English Channel, Melanie Barratt took on the toughest swim of her life — laying to rest her demons, and honouring her beloved mum.

Melanie Barratt was born with congenital toxoplasmosis that left her severely visually-impaired. As a teenager she excelled academically but found it hard to keep friends. She found solace in the swimming pool where again she shone, earning a chance to represent Team GB at the 1996 and 2000 Paralympic Games. Despite winning gold medals at both, her confidence in the pool did not extend to her social life, where she struggled with self-loathing. One constant source of support however was her mother, who continued to inspire Melanie even after her death. It would take decades and a gruelling swim across the English Channel – earning a place in history – for Melanie finally to find peace.

Presenter: Jo Fidgen Producer: Hetal Bapodra and June Christie

Get in touch: [email protected] or WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	You're about to listen to a BBC podcast, but this is about something else you might enjoy.
0:05.4	My name's Katie Lecky and I'm an assistant commissioner for on demand music on BBC Sounds.
0:10.7	The BBC has an incredible musical heritage and culture and as a music lover, I love being part of that.
0:17.4	With music on sounds, we offer collections and mixes for everything, from workouts to
0:22.4	helping you nod off, boogie in your kitchen, or even just a moment of calm. And they're all
0:28.1	put together by people who know their stuff. So if you want some expertly curated music in your life,
0:34.9	check out BBC Sounds.
0:44.6	I turn my head to breathe and there was a massive one right next to my face. I had this real kind of jump scare from it. In the sea between England and France, there'd be monsters. And this tentacles
0:53.5	came all the way across my face
0:55.0	and all the way down my body,
0:56.2	but I can only imagine it wasn't a stinging type
0:58.8	or I touched the right part of it,
1:00.4	but I didn't get stung from it.
1:02.8	Last year, British swimmer Melanie Barrett
1:05.6	attempted to swim the English Channel,
1:08.1	something just a couple of thousand people have ever achieved.
1:11.6	It's 20-odd miles, 30 or so kilometres, and extremely cold.
1:17.5	Plus, Melanie can barely see.
1:20.3	She's registered blind, so she didn't know when she was about to swim into a jellyfish.
1:26.9	I'm absolutely terrified a jellyfish.
1:29.1	I spent the whole time just waiting to be stunned.
1:31.1	You've got to ask, why put yourself through that to swim the channel?
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 14 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.