Melanie Barratt: Breaking barriers in open water

Paralympic champion turned open-water pioneer Melanie Barratt shares her extraordinary story of resilience, courage and reinvention. Born with severe visual impairment, Melanie rose to the top of British swimming before stepping away from elite competition to explore new challenges. 

In 2024, Melanie made history as the first blind woman to swim the English Channel solo - an achievement she says means even more to her than her Paralympic gold medals.

In this powerful conversation with Sue Anstiss, Melanie reflects on the joy of discovering water as a child, the pressures and triumphs of Atlanta and Sydney and why she walked away at the height of her career. She explains how open water swimming became her “happy place,” and why conquering the Channel was truly life-changing.

Melanie also talks about “blind pride,” her golden prosthetic eye and the importance of representation, as well as her current mission to make open water events more accessible for swimmers with disabilities. Her story is one of breaking barriers, redefining limits and finding empowerment in nature.

A conversation that will inspire us all to believe we can overcome fear and dive headfirst into whatever challenge calls us next.

Thank you to Sport England who support The Game Changers Podcast with a National Lottery award.

Find out more about The Game Changers podcast here: https://www.fearlesswomen.co.uk/thegamechangers

Hosted by Sue Anstiss
Produced by Sam Walker, What Goes On Media

A Fearless Women production

Episode Transcript

Melanie Barratt (00:06):
I think possibly people find this quite
difficult to understand, but I'dalways seen myself as almost
like a second-class citizen as adisabled person, and I think
because society, nobody eversaid that to me, but society's
kind of given me that impressionthat that's the way I should
feel, and it felt normal to methat we should be treated this
way, which in hindsight, afterall these years, looking back on

(00:26):
it, is just it's really notacceptable.

Sue Anstiss (00:32):
My guest on the Game Changers today is Melanie
Barratt, a Paralympic championand open water pioneer.
Born with severe visualimpairment, Melanie won multiple
medals for Great Britain beforetaking on extraordinary
challenges in open water.
In 2024, she made history asthe first blind woman to swim
the English Channel solo,inspiring countless others with

(00:56):
her resilience, courage, anddetermination to break barriers
in sport.
So, Melanie, how did you firstdiscover your love for the
water?

Melanie Barratt (01:10):
And that's going back a very long time.
I can't remember any specifictime in particular.
Um I've always just enjoyedbeing in the water, and my
parents used to take me swimmingwhen I was really small.
I think they were part andparcel of what really got me
into swimming because they justinstilled in me a joy of being
in the water and beingsurrounded by water, and I
didn't have any fear at all.

(01:31):
I can remember standing on adiving board in the deep end of
a pool when I must have beenabout two or three, and my dad
had taken me and my brotherswimming, and my mum was in the
stands watching with my babybrother, and she said it was
absolutely terrifying becauseshe turned away and then looked
back, and I stood on the divingboard in over the deep end, and
my dad was waiting underneathme.
And I just jumped in, I wascompletely fearless, really.

(01:53):
I didn't have any any kind ofconception of what could happen
or anything like that, so whichis probably a good thing.
And that just really made melove being in the water.
I just I think because perhapsI've I've lost one sense and
I've perhaps gained more fromothers, and I just love the
feeling of the water around meand being supported by it, and
that's just stayed with me allmy life, really.

Sue Anstiss (02:13):
That's so lovely to hear, isn't it?
And what does it bring to yourlife?
You said that young stage is avery young child discovering it
for the first time.
But then was it just throughswimming clubs and activity?
What was that next stage?

Melanie Barratt (02:24):
Well, I think I always loved being in the water
and playing in the water, but II really couldn't swim very
well until I went to Exil Grangein Coventry, which at the time
was a special school for umblind and visually impaired
people.
And they had some supportthrough British Blind Sports to
encourage blind swimmers to umprogress and developing

(02:44):
confidence, and they had a poolthere, and I I I trained with
them a bit, and so I don'treally I think don't really
think I actually got intoswimming properly until I was
quite old for a swimmer, so atleast ten.
And it was only through BritishBlind Sports that I really
realised that there wassomething out there for blind
people to compete in.
At the time, the Paralympicswas really not well known at

(03:05):
all.
But we're talking sort ofpre-Barcelona, I think, so
that's definitely last century.
So the Paralympics was stillquite in its developmental
stage, and I wasn't really veryaware of it.
But um the British Blind Sportshad a real very good scheme to
develop blind swimmers, and umthey kind of took me under their
their wing and helped medevelop my technique and further

(03:26):
my joy of being a swimmer, andthen I I basically just went on
to compete in differentcompetitions around the country
and and went from there really.

Sue Anstiss (03:34):
Are they still doing that work today, British
Blind Sport, in terms of thatwork in communities to encourage
more children to take upswimming?
So today um British Mindsportsare still around.

Melanie Barratt (03:44):
They're a really local charity to me
actually.
They live just well, livethere, they're they're based
just down the road from me.
And they they are definitelyreally involved in sport, but in
a slightly different way,because before lottery funding
came into sports, BritishMindsports were really heavily
involved in grassrootsdevelopment and and they took
teams away to competitionsinternationally and had
development weekends and reallydeveloped a good strong squad of

(04:07):
blind swimmers.
But then once lottery fundingcame in, they sort of lost the
opportunity to do that, and sothey now focus on more working
liaising with schools and clubsand um families to help young
children and also adults getaccess to sports more on a more
local level, which I think ismuch more important than elite

(04:29):
sport.
While it's really good todevelop elite sports, I think
the the most important thing ismake to make sure that blind
people do have access to sportsjust the way everybody else
does, and it it's you know, Ithink that's a lot more
important than than elite sport.

Sue Anstiss (04:44):
Yeah, and sport for life too, isn't it, across the
whole of of your life, as yousay.
Definitely.
You talked about being a littlelate in terms of starting
competitive swimming, but youwere selected for your first
international.
I think you were 17.
So what kind of motivated youto keep training and keep being
involved in sport in that way?

Melanie Barratt (05:02):
So um I initially got into competitive
swimming because one of myfriends at Exil Grain, she she
went to Barcelona at theParalympics, and I was that
really motivated me.
I wanted to emulate her, and Ikind of I guess she was like my
my idol in a way, and I um Ijust wanted to be like you know,
when you're younger you havethese kind of feelings about
other people in your year, andum I guess it kind of fired at

(05:24):
my competitive spirit, and so Istarted training more
enthusiastically, and BritishBayern Sports helped me find a
local club that I could swimwith, and then I started to swim
a bit more.
And I've seen BarcelonaParalympics on the TV, so we're
talking 99 1999 no 1992, so thatis showing how old I am.
Um, and so I'd seen it on theTV, only the small snippets that

(05:46):
they showed because thecoverage was really, really
limited.
But I'd seen how amazing itwould be to go and swim in this
international pool that afterthe Olympics had finished and
kind of have the wholeexperience of swimming
internationally.
So that really fired me up, andI started to train a bit more,
get up at crazy hours likeswimmers do, which is actually
17 is actually really quite latefor your first international as

(06:07):
a swimmer in other sports.
It's still really young, butswimmers they do start early.
And I think in a way it wasbeneficial for me to start late
because I knew it was what Iwanted to do.
My parents never pushed me todo it.
It was something that I got outof bed in the morning at five
o'clock to go, and I had to goand wake them up to take me
training because that you know Iwanted to go rather than they
were forcing me to go, um, whichI think is really important and

(06:30):
it was my own motivation, andthat came from like a kind of a
a real deep desire to I don'tknow whether it's to prove
something to myself or to um tostrive to be the best in the
sport or to strive to experiencesomething incredible that I've
seen on the TV.
I I just have a realcompetitive streak, I think,

(06:53):
which all all um sports peopletend to have, but that's what
made me get out of bed and gotraining.
And then the more I did, thebetter I got, and the more I
wanted to do, and the morecompetitions I went to, and it's
kind of like a positivereinforcement thing.
Success breeds success, as theysay.

Sue Anstiss (07:07):
Indeed, indeed.
So obviously you did progressfrom you say that kind of
inspiration of Barcelona, andby '96 you were in Atlanta and
then in Sydney in 2000.
So some of your standoutmemories from from that time of
competing at the Paralympics,what what were they?

Melanie Barratt (07:24):
Oh my gosh, there's so many memories.
Um, so my first Paralympics wasAtlanta, and for me, because it
was my first Paralympics, Ididn't really know what to
expect.
I was just so blown away by thefact that I was um on a world
stage and I was competingagainst these people that I'd
previously seen on the TV inBarcelona, and I was just like,
gosh, they these are these arestars, these incredible sports

(07:45):
people.
It's it's just so amazing to behere in the Paralympics.
But actually, in hindsight,Atlanta, it's you know, I don't
really know how much to sayabout this because it could be
quite controversial.
Atlanta, um, it's I think inthose days, that because like I
said before, the Paralympics wasreally um not that well known,
so they kind of took on theParalympics because they had to,

(08:06):
I think.
That was the feeling that thatI have.
They closed down all of theOlympic village after the
Olympics because you know theOlympic village had all um loads
of facilities like um socialareas and shopping areas and
kind of mixed zones and loads ofplaces where you can go meet
people.
I think it even had its ownpool.
And so I'd seen all this on theOlympics and thought this is

(08:26):
what this is good about.
I'm gonna have it's gonna beincredible.
We went there and they'dbasically just closed everything
down apart from the livingaccommodation, which was student
accommodation, and a bigmassive tent, which was where
you went for your food.
Um, and some evenings afterfinals we'd go back and the the
food had stopped because it wasquite late, so we'd have just
have cereals.
But I didn't really thinkanything of it at the time

(08:48):
because I always kind of I Ithink possibly people find this
quite difficult to understand,but I'd always seen myself as
almost like a second-classcitizen as a disabled person,
and I think because societynobody ever said that to me, but
society's kind of given me thatimpression that that's the way
I should feel, and it feltnormal to me that we should be
treated this way, which inhindsight, after all these

(09:10):
years, looking back on it, isjust it's really not acceptable.
But for me at the time, livingthat moment, I was just in the
moment, like competing, and thecompetition was just incredible.
Um, it was my first realexperience of proper
international racing and um thecall-up room and um kind of
walking out for your races withall the music playing and having

(09:32):
being introduced to the crowd.
It was it was nerve really,really nerve-wracking, but also
incredibly exciting.
Um, I wasn't expecting to dovery well because there was a
lot of competition and somepeople have won for many years.
But I I was shocked everybody,including myself, by coming away
with a gold in the 400freestyle.
And and I can still rememberthe shock that I felt because I

(09:54):
in the pool I can't see well, inany water, I can't really see
much under the water, definitelynot in open water, but in the
pool I can't really see anybody.
Occasionally I can see peopleif they're in the lane right
next to me, but um not reallyvery reliably.
So I had no idea where I was inthis race until I got to the
end and touched the wall, andthe timekeeper told me, and I
just could not believe it.
I still I can still ha feelthat feeling of disbelief and

(10:16):
shock and and just that can't betrue.
Um, so that that's a real, areal big memory of mine.
And then standing on thepodium, which I'd dreamt of
doing for months and monthsbeforehand.
I'd I'd I can remember lying onmy bed dreaming of standing on
the podium what it would feellike.
And actually, it didn't reallyfeel like I thought it would.

(10:36):
It was all a bit surrealbecause it happened so quickly.
Our National Anthony isactually really, really short,
so um, it all happened reallyquickly.
And then I came back fromAtlanta completely motivated to
to improve myself.
Now I was like the the personto beat in the 400 freestyle,
which is a lot more difficultthan when you're looking towards
somebody to to beat them, andthat really got me motivated.

(11:01):
And uh between Atlanta andSydney, lottery funding came in,
so I was able to trainfull-time.
Um, and I moved to Bath andtrained at the high performance
centre in Bath, and there was alot of training camps around the
world, which was incredible,and then we went to Sydney, and
Sydney was the they marketed itas the Games of the New
Millennium, and for theParalympics, I I think it was

(11:21):
the games of the new generationbecause it was the first time
that I think it actually wasproperly recognised by the
Australian people anyway.
They built the Olympic villagewith the Paralympics in mind, so
they had um all of the houseswere accessible with ramps and
the the transport that wentround the village was fully
accessible, and they had keptall of the entertainment and the

(11:44):
shopping, and the we had freehairdressing and uh had free
nails, and it was very cool, andthen the the venues were just
incredible, and then the racingwas really, really fast as well.
So it was the amazing package,and obviously it was Australia,
which was fantastic.
We had thousands of people cometo watch us swimming, and it
but for me it was reallystressful because I was expected

(12:06):
to win.
Um, and if I if I'd lost, itwould have been something that
I'd done wrong, really, in mytraining or my preparation or in
the race, and it was a lot ofpressure on me.
And I don't I didn't enjoy itas much as I I should have done,
but I I definitely, definitelyenjoyed it once I finished and
won my gold medal again.
That was yeah, that wasincredible.

(12:26):
Overriding feeling of relief aswell as joy, but it was an
amazing, amazing feeling.
And I also got a gold, I got agold, silver, and bronze in
Sydney, which was really nicebecause it meant that I had one
of each, which is always verynice to show.

Sue Anstiss (12:40):
That's so interesting about the village,
isn't it?
I interviewed Sammy Kinghornfor the last series, and she
talked about being in thevillage, it almost being like a
utopia for somebody as awheelchair athlete because of
all the ramps accessibility.
It's like almost the perfectcity village that you would
choose to live in in anextraordinary way.
So it's lovely that you hadthat experience at at Sydney

(13:01):
after Atlanta.

Melanie Barratt (13:03):
But I really feel for people who were kind of
in the games running up toSydney, and especially Atlanta,
it was so inaccessible forpeople in wheelchairs.
I mean, behind it, all it alllooked really good on the TV,
but the swimming pool, forexample, behind the pool, there
was this kind of a field thatwas the the wheelchairs had to
get across to get access the therear entrance to the pool, the
athlete's entrance.

(13:24):
And obviously, Atlanta, it wasvery stormy at times and it just
flooded, and these poorwheelchairs had to try and get
through this mud to get to theircompetition venue, and it it
just wasn't really very thoughtout.
So I do really feel foreverybody that that were in the
Paralympics up to that point,and you know, from Sydney
onwards, I think it's got betterand better, and I think it is

(13:45):
that's the way it should be.
And I'm I'm really incrediblyhappy that finally people have
recognised that the Paralympiansare, you know, we're athletes
in their own right, and we'redefinitely not second-class
citizens.

Sue Anstiss (13:57):
Absolutely, absolutely.
And it was after Sydney, sointeresting, yeah, kind of gold,
silver, bronze.
But you then stepped away fromelite competition in the pool
and almost at the height of yourcareer, that must have been
tough.
So was it was it a toughdecision to make at that time?

Melanie Barratt (14:11):
Uh no, not at all.
I think although I'd, you know,achieved this amazing thing in
Sydney, I'd I kind of felt likeI'd it I'd I I didn't want any
more stress.
It was it was incrediblystressful.
I mean, I enjoyed the training.
I liked the I really enjoyedthe training and the kind of
something towards to aim towardsand I I I enjoyed the kind of
routine of training and but Ididn't really didn't enjoy the

(14:34):
pressure of the competition.
And I think because because Iwas kind of the person to beat,
it it it was really, reallyhard, and I I don't think
mentally I was tough enough tocope with that and I struggle
quite a lot with it.
So I I I'd also decided that Iwanted to study physiotherapy
and I'd so that I had I appliedfor a place to study physio and

(14:56):
I'd I got that and then I didn'twant to kind of compromise
either by doing poorly in physioand poorly in swimming because
I couldn't commit as much timeto it each as I wanted to, so I
chose to do the physio and I wasvery happy to walk away from
the pool to be honest.
I thought I'd I'd done what Iwanted to do and I'd I'd won
quite a lot of races over theyears and been around the world

(15:17):
and I I didn't really think thatanything could really better
that.
I wish I'd been able to competein uh in London because that
would have just been amazing,but it was it was too far into
the distance for me.
I was too old.

Sue Anstiss (15:29):
You mentioned that you you qualified as a
physiotherapist and worked inthe NHS and private practice for
for 14 years, as you had yourfamily too, but clearly you
didn't stop all sports.
So you went on to explore manysports tandem, cycling, rowing,
judo, marathon running.
What drew you to all those kindof new challenges?

Melanie Barratt (15:47):
Yeah, I'm not entirely sure why I keep trying
to force myself well not forcemyself, but trying to explore
all these different avenues.
Um I'm not I think perhaps atthe time I was trying to I don't
know.
I like having a challenge towork towards and um I like
challenging myself and I don'tknow if I've I've always been

(16:08):
trying to prove something tomyself in various different
sports.
I did try in cycling to um togo to the Paralympics in
cycling, I did tandem racing atthe World Championships, but I I
wasn't a good enough cyclist,and there's lots of other
excuses I could use, but I thinkfundamentally I just wasn't
good enough.
Um you don't really use youryour legs in the same way in the
pool as you do on a bike, sothat was that was um it was

(16:31):
quite a painful experiencecycling on the track.
Um but it I you know I got toexperience some fun things and I
did enjoy it, but um I justwasn't good enough.
And British cycling, if you ifyou're not gonna get a medal,
they're not interested.
And then I rowing, I just Ithink with rowing, I'd I'd I
thought it looked like it was begreat fun rowing on the river,

(16:51):
being outside.
Um, and I'd seen you know onthe Olympics people rowing and
it looked like it was good fun,but actually anybody who's tried
rowing is really, reallypainful.
And I wasn't very good at thateither, because it's really down
to timing.
And I know that there are blindrowers, but it I couldn't
really work out how to followpeople in the boat without being

(17:11):
able to see them very well.
And I did I joined my localrowing club and I never really
got the hang of it properly.
I used to used to get tangledup because I couldn't see well
their movements so well, so I Iit just frustrated me a bit too
much.
But I I do really love allkeeping fit and doing sport.
I have to have that in my life.
I think it's really importantfor my mental health, and I

(17:31):
think lots of people would agreewith that.
It's it can have a huge impacton how you feel about yourself,
and then also that rubs off onmy family and my work, and I
think it's really important formy family that I do a sport
because if I if I don'texercise, then everybody knows
about it.
But in the background ofeverything that I've ever done,
I I will always have gone to thepool and swam.

(17:52):
Maybe just like a few times aweek, but I will always swim
because it's it's my happyplace, and regardless of whether
I'm compete and swimming tocompete or to do anything, I
have I swim because that's likeit relaxes my body and my mind,
and even if I was rowing orcycling, I would still be
swimming.
It's just my body needs needsto be in the water, really.

Sue Anstiss (18:12):
Really.
And you also took on triathlon,so you won the world
championships in 2008.
And I guess that must havebeen, I believe, slightly
frustrating because it wasn'tyet a Paralympic sport.
So do you think that would havebeen a route if if it had been?

Melanie Barratt (18:27):
I I think my world championship medal was
actually quite good timing froma while.
Um I'd I from one perspectiveanyway, it was kind of like when
the sport was developing.
Anybody who knows me well knowsthat my swimming's good,
cycling was okay, but my runningis really, really poor.
So I was able to win thatpurely by being really good at

(18:47):
the other two sports and thenjust hanging on for as long as I
could on the run, whichactually turned out to be good
enough on the day, um, which wasan incredible thing, you know,
to achieve.
And if it had been a yearbefore or two years before
London, then yeah, God, I wouldhave loved to have gone and
competed in the in theparatriathlon, but I had no idea
it was going to be in theParalympics, so obviously I I

(19:09):
retired and I I think I hadanother baby after that.
And after that I just Icouldn't commit the time to
triathlon training becauseobviously it's three sports, and
plus I knew that my runningjust isn't up to it.
I mean swimmers really don'tmake very good runners.
So it's yeah, that was slightlyfrustrating.
And I ha I've I mean over thepast ten years or so I've often

(19:30):
thought, well, you know, maybe Icould get back into it, but
then I go for a run and think,no, there's no chance.
No way.

Sue Anstiss (19:36):
Your triathlon sounds much like mine.
So I'm a strong I was a strong,not of anywhere near your
level, but I was a strongswimmer, okay on the bike and
just rubbish running, well,hanging on on the run, hoping
people won't come past me.
That's exactly the feeling.

Melanie Barratt (19:50):
Although tri triathlon did really kind of
make me experience open waterfor the first time.
Um, because triathlon, you tendto swim open water.
There are some that you do inthe pool, but mostly it's open
water.
Um, so I was paired with thislady.
You have the same guide for theswim, the bike, and the run,
and you're tied together at theleg for the swim.
Um, so it was my first realexperience of being in the open

(20:13):
water, and I can I can stillremember my my first time, and I
was quite nervous because Ithought, what about if I
absolutely hate it?
I had a wetsuit on, but I stillfelt absolutely freezing cold.
But I really loved the feelingof do being outside, and it sort
of felt almost like where weshould swim, it's where should
you know what swimming should beabout.
It's kind of comparing runningon the treadmill to running

(20:35):
outside.
It it was just so amazing to bein the fresh air and feel the
water outside and the differenttemperature and the smells and
the kind of the the wind and thejust being in nature.
I didn't really like being tiedto somebody, but that's
obviously what the only methodwe had.
She was a lot slower atswimming than me as well, which
was really frustrating.
So that was quite difficult.

(20:56):
But it it really started tomake me think, you know, I look
I do actually really love beingin open water, but I I don't
like being tied to somebody, soit's I just don't know how I
could ever do it.
But that gave me like the sortof the thoughts in the back of
my mind that maybe it'ssomething I could do in the
future.

Sue Anstiss (21:12):
And what was that step then?
To be untethered, to can I beable to stay oriented?
Because I guess it is theorientation and the sighting and
so on that is the one of themain obstacles for you there.

Melanie Barratt (21:24):
So people who can s have um full sight, they
can look into the distance whenthey're swimming and see maybe
like a tree, or they can see theboys if it's a race, or some
mark in the distance and swimtowards it.
I can't do that because Ihaven't got enough sight, so I'm
completely blind in one eye.
The other eye I can see sort ofcolours and shapes out of.
So in the water I can't seeanything.

(21:45):
When I turn to breathe or lookabove the water, I can see kind
of snippets of colours andshapes that I can sometimes make
out to be objects, but usuallyin the glimpse that I get, it's
just a blob.
So for me to swimindependently, it's it's really,
really difficult, if notimpossible.
Uh, and I just thought foryears that it would be

(22:05):
impossible.
And but at the same time, I wasgiven a book by Lynn Cox, who
is a really accomplished openwater swimmer who swam all
around the world, and she's umshe swam the Bering Straits and
the English Channel and loads ofdifferent amazing places in the
Arctic.
And it really inspired me, butI I just thought it's it's incre
it would be incredible to toswim all these incredible places

(22:29):
and explore by water.
It must be amazing to swim fromone country to the other.
And I I was started to thinklike, how could I possibly do
this?
And I didn't want to be tied toanybody because I I just didn't
want to feel like I wasrestricted by anybody or
restricting them.
If somebody's faster than me,then I would be restricting
their swim.
And also it would feel like I'mnot doing it for myself, I'm

(22:51):
not doing it on my own.
So I needed to find a differentway of being guided.
My first open water event Ientered back in 2021.
So this is slightlyembarrassing because everybody
got into wild swimming duringthe lockdowns.
But I took it upon myself toenter an event, and rather than
entering like a short event, Iwent straight for 10 kilometres,

(23:13):
which is the it's a marathondistance in swimming.
And it was only when I lookedat the how much how many lengths
that would be in a pool that Irealised actually that's a
really long way, and I'm gonnaneed to try and train for it and
not being allowed to swimoutside on my own.
Obviously, I did a lot oftraining in the pool.
It's it's I think it's 400lengths of a pool, is 10k.

(23:33):
So I I did a lot of training inthe pool, and then I went to
the local river with my husbandon a bright green kayak, and if
he was next to me, I could turnmy head and breathe and see if I
saw a bright green blob next tome, I knew it was okay.
So, with that training and thatmindset, we went to do this 10k
in a uh a Welsh lake, which wasvery grey and very, very cold,

(23:56):
and it was a huge thing for meto do because I'd never done any
event like this before.
It was a long, long way, and Ididn't know how it was going to
work out with me being able tosee Richard and whether I could
follow him and whether he couldI was relying on him to guide me
as well, so he had to followthe course.
I managed to complete it.
It was incredibly challengingbecause it was a really windy

(24:18):
day, so he was being blown abouton his little kayak, and I was
trying I was trying to see himand follow him.
Sometimes a lot of the time Icouldn't see where he was, I
just had to keep swimming andhope that I'd catch this bright
green blob in the distance, andhe had to keep an eye on me, and
it was it was really, reallyhard work because he couldn't
talk to me.
Eventually we managed tofinish, and it was the most
incredible feeling, really.

(24:39):
It was I felt a real sense ofachievement that I'd done this
by myself, I'd solved thisproblem and managed to swim this
in this lake by myself.
And I've I can't remember whereI came, I wasn't racing it.
All I mean, the open water Ijust never race, I just do it to
um as a personal kind ofchallenge, I guess.
And it just gave me such asense of satisfaction and

(25:00):
empowerment that I've I'vemanaged to solve this problem
and swim independently, and umit was it was a great feeling,
and it was really addictive, itmade me really want to do more
of it, but I knew there must bea better way of doing it because
you know, and there must be away of communicating.
You people in the navy theythey somehow communicate.
So I I did a lot of researchand I came up with like a radio

(25:20):
system where somebody can have aradio and I have a bone
conducting headset.
So it effectively it's likesomebody just guiding me the
whole time.
They can um guide me aroundobstacles and they can give me
information everybody else has,like how far it is to the next
boy, where anybody else is inthe race, and um where the
finish is, how far I've got leftto go, all that kind of thing

(25:41):
that other people would have andjust don't really realise the
information that they need.
And that's just been um acomplete game changer for me.
It's just been amazing, it'smade such a huge difference.
And me saying I don't race openwater, it has meant that I can
actually race properly, and I'veI've been to several events
where I've I've been able torace as hard as I possibly can
because there's somebody on thebank guiding me.

(26:03):
And I've actually won a acouple of races against fully
sighted swimmers because I'vebeen able to race as hard as I
can, um, and that has made mefeel so empowered and so strong
mentally and physically.
It's made a huge difference tome.
And it also opened upeverything for me.
I could I started to think,well, maybe I could do like a
huge challenge like Windermereand you know, maybe possibly in

(26:26):
the future that I could swim theEnglish Channel, which had been
a dream for many, many years,which I thought was impossible.
And yeah, then obviously it itcame to happen.

Sue Anstiss (26:37):
Came to be.
And you said that it's 2024that you managed that incredible
feat.
I was gonna ask you how longthat had been an ambition.
It's like I think for many openwater swimmers, it is that
ultimate dream, isn't it?
So had that been something youlong thought of even when you
were swimming in the pool, orwas it as you came to open water
you began to think about it?

Melanie Barratt (26:57):
It's been many, many, many years.
I think when I was in theswimming pool, I was aware that
people could swim the channel,and I thought, like I've said
before, I think it's just I usedto think it was just impossible
to do.
I mean, I think I was awarethat a blind man had done it,
but I had no idea how he'dmanaged to do it.
And I I just thought he was hewas just incredible to even try
it.
I just thought I couldn't doit.
I don't like cold water.
How could I possibly do it if Idon't like the cold and I can't

(27:18):
see and when I'm in the water,how do you know when the waves
are coming?
How do you know if there'sjellyfish?
How do you know if you're goingthe right way?
And all that it's such a longway.
How can I swim that far?
And how I wouldn't be mentallytough enough.
It's difficult enough to do atwo-hour swimming session.
So all these questions anddoubts in my mind made me think
it was just impossible for manyyears.
Um, and then gradually, Iguess, I increased the distance

(27:40):
that I swam.
So I did the 10K, and then Idid longer swims, and I did
Windermere, which is about tenand a half miles.
And I, as part of my swimmingexperience, I I I came to meet
some incredible women.
So the open water swimmingcommunity is always really
supportive.
And um I had a local friend whotook me to my first river dip.

(28:04):
She was an amazing person whoshe swam many different uh
swimming events, and she'sattempted the English Channel
twice, and she's veryexperienced, so she kind of
encouraged me to try differentthings.
Um, and then I met some morelocal friends who um meet
regularly to swim open water, dolonger distance, do events.

(28:24):
Um, they're called ironfishswimmers, and they're like a
group of incredible ladies thatare you know really inclusive
and they've been so supportive,and and they've also empowered
me to feel really kind ofwelcomed and um strong and that
I can achieve anything.
And it's it gave me a realsense of belonging that I hadn't

(28:45):
really had before, and alsothat I was worthy of you know
being with them and being inopen water and that you know I I
could do it just as well asthey could.
We got together in 2023 to swimthe Lac Liman, which is Lake
Geneva.
That's 71, 71 kilometres, it'sa really, really long way, and
it was the most that was anincredible experience because um

(29:06):
not only is it a spectacularplace to swim, like beautiful
blue waters and the sun wasshining and we were on this
incredible yacht, but also wecame together in such an
incredible way as a team becausethey had to take it in turns to
guide me, they had to supportme.
I couldn't do it without them,and they needed me on the team
as well because we had to worktogether to to swim it as a
relay, and it was it was anamazing, amazing feeling and an

(29:30):
amazing thing to do together.
So that really made me feelaccepted and that I could
achieve anything, and that thenI signed up to swim the channel,
and you have to sign up acouple of years in advance
because it's so popular, believeit or not.
There's I think twelve boatsthat do it every day.
Well, not every day, it's onlywhen the weather is good.
So it's it's a really, reallycompetitive thing to get to do

(29:53):
now.
I think it's two two or threeyears you have in advance, and
that gives you time to kind ofprepare yourself mentally and
physically.
And so that then came two yearsof uh lots and lots and lots of
swimming and um preparationmentally and physically and I
was really, really worried aboutthe cold.
To swim the channel, you haveto do it in your costume and you

(30:15):
have to do a qualification swimin waters that's less than 16
degrees for six hours, which isjust yeah, that was horrendous.
It was very challenging.
But just doing that made mefeel like I was a lot stronger
than I thought I was, bothmentally and physically, and
that really gave me theconfidence that I maybe I could
swim the channel, and maybe I,you know, maybe I could do it,

(30:38):
and maybe I could be successful.
And then it all came togetheron the day in the most fantastic
way.
It was just an incredible,incredible day.
I was so unbelievably lucky.

Sue Anstiss (30:47):
You say you were so lucky, lucky in terms of the
weather and the conditions inyour amazing team, and what what
was it kind of about that day?

Melanie Barratt (30:54):
Everything, everything about that day was
just spectacular.
It was it was every singlething.
If I could go back, I would doit tomorrow.
It was just incredible.
I had the most incrediblesupport team, had three amazing
ladies, they were the mostincredible team.
They were guided me on theheadset, took it in turns, and
they supported me and fed me,and they were just incredible.

(31:16):
And then the weather was likenothing you'd ever expect on the
channel.
It was the water was completelyflat, like glassy.
It was like Lake Geneva, justblue and flat and clear, and the
sun shone down from a blue skythe whole day.
It was just absolutelyincredible.
I'm not saying the swimming waseasy.
I started in the night time, Istarted about an hour before

(31:37):
dawn, so I had to swim in thedark, which I hadn't really done
a lot of, but um we'd preparedfor that because we knew in
advance.
So obviously the boat had lotsand lots of lights on it, so I
could I was aware of where theboat was.
But then I also had the radioheadset.
Um, so I I just swam and swamand swam and swam.
Gradually it got lighter andthen it got a bit warmer.
I never felt cold because thesun was shining, it just I never

(31:59):
really was aware of the cold,and the water felt so soft and I
just felt like I was glidingthrough it.
And I was really, really scaredof the jellyfish as well,
because I can't see whetherthey're there or not.
I just assumed that they weregonna be coming to get me.
And they were there, but theydidn't make themselves known to
me, which I was very relievedabout.
It was a long day with a lot ofswimming, and I got about
halfway after about six hours,and I went through a phase of

(32:23):
feeling really, really, reallysick, really sick and really
tired.
And the longest that I'd swambefore then had been seven
hours, and I can rememberthinking to myself, well, you
know, you've you haven't evendone seven hours yet, and you're
feeling like this, and there'sgoing to be at least this again.
So, how are you ever going tomanage this?
So, this was like my darkphase, I think.
And I'd been preparing for thisbecause I knew that I'd get to
this point where I'd feel like Icouldn't go any further, and I

(32:45):
knew I just had to keep swimmingfor five minutes and think
about something else for fiveminutes, and then swim towards
the next feed, because we had afeed every hour, and then at the
next feed I could decide what Iwas going to do, and then by
then I'd started to feel a bitbetter, and then I just kept
swimming a bit longer and Istarted to feel less sick, and
gradually I started to feel likeI could I could do it.
Perhaps I could do it.
I wasn't feeling quite so badagain.

(33:07):
And also the other thing I wasthinking was it's look, the
conditions are absolutelyincredible.
The sun's shining, there'syou're not you're not ill,
really.
It's just a bit of sickness.
And if you get out now, thenyou could you can have to say, I
really didn't have any excuse,I just couldn't didn't want to
do it anymore.
And I couldn't do that tomyself.
So I carried on going, and theneventually it all came

(33:27):
together.
Um, I felt like I could justkeep swimming.
The sickness went away, and I Istarted to feel a bit less
tired, unbelievably.
Started to feel a bit achy, butI I don't remember feeling
really bad.
Just kept swimming andswimming, and then eventually I
had the most incredible messageon my headset.
They'd been passing messagesthroughout the second half of
the swim, which was reallylovely.
Little short messages from umPete, my supporters, which was

(33:50):
really nice.
And then I had a message thatsaid, Listen very carefully.
One of us is wearing a swimmingcostume, and the other little
boat is being lowered into thewater.
That meant that we were justabout to land in France because
they have a little boat thatfollows you into land where the
big boat can't get in because itgets shallow.
And we worked out that one ofmy teammates could get into the
water and swim next to me tohelp me land.

(34:12):
So that meant to me that I wasabout to land, and I that was
the best thing I have ever, everheard.
It was the most incrediblemessage.
It was, it was, yeah, it wasjust incredible.
The rules are very, very strictfor swimming the channel, so
obviously nobody is allowed totouch you, so I couldn't have
anybody touching me until I gotout of the out of the sea in

(34:33):
France.
They can pass you stuff in thewater, but they're not allowed
to touch you.
So we had this radio headset,but it owed it's only got a
two-hour window before thebattery goes, so we had to
change it every two hours, andthat was all done with me
floating in the water, poppingit out of my hat, and I had to
put it in a net that theylowered into the water, and I
replaced it.
So all these things we'dpractised, and it all went

(34:55):
really well actually.
We were really lucky with that.
But I'd had dreams of runningup the beach in the sunset,
waving my arms with my teamaround me, with the sandy sand
underneath my feet, and likejoyful, you know, all the
celebrations.
Maybe, maybe somebody'll comedown from the cafe that's on the
beach with a glass of somethingfor me.
As it turned out, we landed onthe cap, which is like rocks

(35:18):
basically, real sharp, horriblebarnacles and really dangerous
for people to land on.
Luckily, it wasn't very wavy,but there was still quite a lot
of movement, which was reallydifficult.
So my my finish was my friendNatalie saying to me, go left a
bit, right a bit, left a bit,right a bit, get out on that
one, no the other one, try andtry and get out on that one.
And so I hauled myself out ontomy belly and managed to get

(35:39):
onto my knees, and then whenyour feet clear the water, your
swim's finished.
So everybody's got theseincredible finish photos, but
mine is just me like on my on myhands and knees, like trying to
do like a yoga pose wave to theboat.
But that feeling was justincredible though, it was
amazing.
I would say that means more tome than anything that I've ever

(35:59):
done in my life.
I'm more proud of that swimthan I am of anything that I've
ever achieved, including all myParalympic gold medals.
It means so much to me becauseI think because I had to
overcome so much to get even tothe start beach, I had to learn
how to swim open water, how Iwas going to do it
independently.
I had to overcome all my fearsof the cold and the waves and

(36:20):
the jellyfish.
Um, and then to actuallycomplete it when you know, maybe
2,000 people, 2,500 people havecompleted it.
To be able to be one of thoseis such an incredible thing and
something that I'm so proud of.
And I think it's made me feellike finally I've achieved
something amazing and I I havedone something that I should be

(36:40):
proud of.
I am, you know, an a wholeperson and proud of who I am.
Whereas before I kind of feltlike my visual impairment
defined me.
Now I I define myself more asI'm a swimmer, open water
swimmer sampling Englishchannel, and I'm really happy
with who I am now.
So people have said it, said tome in the past that it's a
life-changing experience, butfor me, I never used to

(37:01):
understand what it meant at all.
I thought, how can a swim be alife-changing experience?
But for me, my God, it reallyhas.
I feel so differently aboutmyself since then.
I feel like I'm so strong andso powerful, and that I can
achieve anything really that Iwant to set my mind to, and that
I am a whole person and I'm,you know, I'm not lesser than
anybody else.
I love that.

Sue Anstiss (37:21):
You're like the perfect podcast guest because
you're preempting all thequestions.
My question was, how did thatcompare to winning Paralympic
medals?
Oh story.
No, no, it's perfect.
It's perfect.
We're obviously on the sametrack with your story.
I love it.
I do have this tendency toramble on.
No, not it's not rambling, it'stelling the story and it's
beautiful.
It's absolutely beautiful.
It's funny because I'm I'veI've swum open water, and I was

(37:44):
going to talk to you about thecold, actually.
So I've done a lot probably thelast five, six years, I swam
through the winters.
Absolutely.
Uh but like you, I love a warmbeach, I love a warm bath, but
but but I've l really love thecold side of it too.
And so the the channel's alwaysbeen in the back of my mind of
maybe one day, one day.
So talking to you is like, ohmy god, it's opening up all my
ridiculous uh ambitions.

(38:06):
So too many questions.
Um, but how has that coldhelped helped you the cold?
I guess overcoming the cold.
I want to come on to in amoment to talk about the
documentary too, and you indunking yourself in that barrel
in the garden.
But but it's obviously had areally big impact for you in
terms of the the kind ofpositive side, the mental and
physical side.

Melanie Barratt (38:26):
I used to swim in a wetsuit, and I used to
think it felt cold in a wetsuit,but then I I kind of felt like
I didn't really get the wholeexperience.
So then and I also knew that toswim open water, uh you know,
to swim it properly, I guess,um, or to swim the channel using
channel rules, and I had toswim in my costume, so I knew
that I had to expose myself tothe cold.

(38:46):
And oh gosh, I still don't likeit very much.
Um, I swam through severalwinters before I even signed up
for the channel.
So by swimming through thewinter I mean I went to um my
local lake, which this just justsaying I went to my local lake,
a lot of people could just getin the car and go there.
But for me, it's a that isreally, really difficult
difficult for me to do.

(39:07):
Um, because obviously I can'tdrive.
There's no public transportthat gets anywhere near open
water.
So I rely on other people towhich I absolutely hate doing
because I don't want to be aburden on anybody else, so I
only really go when they'regoing.
So it limits if I I have timethat I could go every day, but I
can't because I can't getthere, which is really
frustrating.
But then I've learned that Ican't spend my life thinking

(39:30):
about things that I could do ifI could see.
I have to think of things like,wow, I'm really lucky that I
have people that can take methere when they can, so I just
accept that that's going to bethe case.
So if it's only once a month,then that's what it'll have to
be.
So I yeah, I go as often as Ican, and through the winter it
can get really, really cold.
Um, so I've been to quarrieswhere it's been like six

(39:52):
degrees, and when it's thiscold, oh gosh, it's it's painful
to get into.
But you go numb when you're inthere, and then it is the most
incredible feeling.
When you come out, everythingis tingling and you feel so
alive, and being surrounded bysuch cold water and kind of just
just the whole the cold air andeverything, it just makes you
feel really alive and reallygrounded and sort of like you've

(40:14):
taken a drug.
I think it releases a lot lotof endorphins and serotonin on
feel-good hormones, and it isreally, really addictive.
It's very, very easy though topush it too far um and stay in
too long.
And I have done that on acouple of occasions and been
having having to be rewarmed andwarmed up again, and um that's
not particularly pleasant, but Ithink on the way to swimming

(40:36):
the channel, you have to gothrough, push yourself as far as
you can so that you becomeaware of what your body does in
the cold and what's normal foryou.
So I've learned that I can whenI did my six-hour qualifier, my
fingers turned into starfishwhen I was swimming front crawl,
and I literally, because themuscles they got so cold they
didn't work, I literally couldnot put my fingers together to

(40:56):
swim properly.
And and initially, a few yearsago, that would have terrified
me.
I would be thinking, right,that's the first steps of
hypothermia or I need to get outnow.
But I'd over many years Istarted to realise that for me,
for other people it's obviouslydifferent, but for me, it
plateaus after that point, and Icould swim for four hours with
my hands like this, and I didn'treally get any colder.
It's more um my mental capacitywhen that changes.

(41:18):
Sort of when I was doing thequalifier, I had friends who
were checking in with meregularly to make sure that I
they kept asking me who thePrime Minister was, which was
very very funny because it wasjust before the election.
And I think that's a real sign,you know, if your mental
capacity changes, then thatthat's when you need to get out.
And luckily for me it didn't.
But it is a real learning curveand learning what your body can

(41:40):
tolerate.
And when you're going to pushyourself that far in the
channel, you need to know whatis okay for you.
And throughout all my training,I knew that I could get to the
stage where my fingers, my handsfelt really cold, but I could
still swim.
And I knew what a warm corefelt like and what a cold core
felt like, and it's it's verydifferent.
And and I think it does take along time to develop this, but

(42:01):
it gives you a real confidencein what your your body is able
to do, and it's you know, it'smade me feel really sort of
proud of what my body canachieve, and it made me realise
how strong our bodies are andwhat they can take.
It is quite it's quite anamazing thing to learn.
Absolutely.

Sue Anstiss (42:16):
I agree with you 100% on on all I'm nodding here
on all of that stuff.
Uh your journey across thechannel was captured in the
brilliant documentary Untetheredmade by Daniel Selwood.
I'm a massive fan of hers, asshe was a wonderful previous
guest on the Game Changerspodcast.
So I'd encourage people to havea listen to that and hear about
her her personal journey too.

(42:38):
But how did that collaborationcome about with Danielle?
Oh my gosh, this is quite astory.

Melanie Barratt (42:43):
Um, many years ago now, so maybe four or five
years ago, no, it must be fiveyears ago, I started sharing on
social media about my open waterswimming as a blind swimmer.
Um, and I I kind of I think Ishared it on Open Water Swimmers
UK or some kind of similarFacebook group.
She was a member there, so shepicked up on it and she
contacted me and said she was afilmmaker and she would um love

(43:06):
to meet and have a chat aboutpossibly making a film because
uh her daughter is blind aswell.
Um so I think she was quiteinterested in how I managed, and
she wanted to you know have achat about making a film about
it.
Um so she came to my house andwe had a chat and she did a
little bit of filming, a littlebit of filming of me swimming,
and the plan was to perhaps dosort of like a small piece about

(43:26):
about my swimming and how Imanaged it.
And then I decided I was goingto swim the channel.
This evolved into making a filmabout me swimming the channel,
and she was hoping that she'd beable to get some funding to
follow me and perhaps do alonger film about me swimming
the channel.
And then she applied to SkySports.
They had a a new focus fund,and she was lucky enough to get
selected to do that, and thatmeant that she had a lot of

(43:49):
funding, and it coincided withme doing the channel, and then
it was just the most incredibletiming, really, because she was
able to follow my training andfilm it and film the
qualification swim and all theall the build-up to the the
swim.
And then she was actually onthe boat with her camerawoman um
Natasha on the day filming, andit was fantastic, really.

(44:09):
We all got on so well together.
Um, she was just like a friend,well, she is a friend now, and
she was part of my team.
Uh, they were both part of myteam, and she produced the most
incredible film, which is uh Ithink it's available now on
YouTube, so anybody can watchit.
And she's made the film in sucha way that everybody can access
it.
So blind people have audiodescription done by her

(44:32):
daughter, actually.
So it's beautifully done.
It's almost poetic.
It's beautiful, it isabsolutely beautiful, isn't it?
It's so lovely.
I've never seen anything quitelike that before.
Um, and then it also hassubtitles and a BSL interpreter,
which is she is incredible aswell.
So it's it's a fantastic film,accessible for everybody, and
she's done a fantastic job oftelling my story, and uh it's

(44:53):
been so lovely to watch it aswell.
Um, you know, seeing behind thescenes while I'm swimming,
seeing what they were all doingon the boat, and um it's such a
lovely thing to keep as well.
It's like so many memories, andalso I I've said a lot on that
film that I'd not said toanybody before ever, and now
everybody can see it.
She's so good at get at gettingpeople to talk that I just told

(45:14):
her everything.

Sue Anstiss (45:15):
And how did that feel to then know so many people
did see so much and hear somuch of your your story?

Melanie Barratt (45:21):
Well, at first, when I first saw it, when we
went to um the Kendall MountainFilm Festival, I was kind of in
shock afterwards, kind of a bitshaken by what I'd what I've
told everybody, because therewas some quite personal stuff in
that.
But on reflection, I think itwas all stuff that everybody
needed to hear and everybodyneeds to be aware of that that's
the way that I've felt and howum you know there's been times

(45:44):
in my life when I've I've feltlike for a long, long time I
felt like I'm less of a personand you know inferior to
everybody else because of mysight.
And even up until maybe six,six or seven years ago, it's
just been a normal feeling forme, but it's only been recently,
over the last few years,through my open water swimming
journey, I think it's reallymade me feel a lot more

(46:06):
confident in myself and proud ofwho I am and proud of what I've
achieved.
And you know, that I shouldn'tbe ashamed of anything at all.
It's it's something to be proudof.
And I think the film hasactually helped me feel like
more, even more so, andespecially with my golden eye.
I had a prosthetic eye fittedabout 20 years ago, and it's

(46:27):
always just been a brown onebecause I wanted it to be the
same as the other side, likeeverybody else.
I wanted to try and fit in,that's why I had it done, so I
didn't look any different toeverybody else because before
then it was a tiny little eyeand hadn't formed properly.
And so for many years I justhad I had two brown eyes, which
I was very happy with.
Um and then a few years ago Iwent to have have it fitted
again.
And the lady, I said to thelady, Well, maybe I could have a

(46:50):
different coloured eye, fancy,you know, maybe having a change,
go for something blue, and thenI could have a blue contact
lens in the other side.
And then she gave me this bookwith all these different other
coloured eyes, dragon eyes andtiger eyes, and like these
glittery eyes.
I was like, Oh my god, dopeople really have these?
And she goes, Yeah, some peoplehave like all kinds of funky
things.
And I was like, Oh my god, thatthat's incredible that people

(47:11):
want to make such a feature ofbeing different that they have
these these eyes.
It kind of epitomizes blindpride, which I speak about a bit
in the film as well, aboutbeing proud of who you are and
being proud to be blind.
Um, I know the deaf communityreally embrace being deaf and
they have a sense of deaf pride,but I the blind community don't
really have that so much.
And I've never ever felt that.
But then I saw and seen theseeyes, it's like, oh my god, some

(47:33):
people must really embrace it.
And I thought, well, maybe Icould have something different
like that.
And I ended up going for thegold a golden eye.
It's actually a mini, tiny,tiny, they've done an incredible
job.
It's a tiny, tiny version of mygold medal from Sydney.
And it, if you look closelyenough, it's like got all the
it's hand painted, but it's gotall the details of the gold
medal on it.
It's amazing, really beautiful.

(47:55):
And when I saw it, I was justthat's just amazing.
It really glows almost.
And I didn't, I was didn't wearit for a long time because I
wasn't very brave.
I thought this this is reallygonna throw people.
I think because it reallychallenges people's idea of
symmetry and it looks sodifferent to a normal eye.
But then Danielle came and didsome filming, and I I wore it,

(48:17):
and then after that, I just Ikept it in for a few days, and I
I felt like you know, I don'tcare.
This is me, this is my eye, andthis is you know, stare at me,
I don't mind, this is me, I'mproud of this, I'm proud of what
I'm wearing.
I took it off though when Iwent to work because I work in a
school and I thought it'd freakout all the teenagers if I had
this golden eye.
So I took it off when I wentback to work.
But I wore it for the channeland I I wear it for public

(48:40):
appearances.
I don't wear it on a day-to-daybasis because it's such a huge
feature.
Um, sometimes I forget thatI've got it in.
My husband tells me becauseit's quite it he finds it quite,
you know, it's very differentfor him.
But uh interestingly though, hesaid that when I first got it.
But once he watched the filmand saw the reasoning behind it,
he hasn't said anything likethat since then.
So I think he understands whynow that I wear it, and so he

(49:04):
doesn't say anything anymore.
He just lets me wear it.
And but I I wear it for kind oflike if I'm doing any kind of
appearances or anything likethat, and and and I enjoy it
because it's it's uh it's like apowerful thing for me.
Like bl it epitomizes blindpride and um who I am and that
I'm now proud of who I am, andsort of like the end of my
journey.
I feel like I've got to where Iwant to be in life now, at the

(49:27):
grand old age of where I am now.
And I feel like finally I'mreally happy with who I am, and
the golden eye sort ofepitomizes that for me.

Sue Anstiss (49:36):
I love that.
I love that.
And it are as you say, you'reat the end of your challenges.
Do you have more challenges inmind?
What's next for you?
Or or you know, you're drawinga line and you're just gonna
enjoy your open water swimming.

Melanie Barratt (49:48):
Well, it's yeah, I wouldn't I it I went
through phases of of thinkingwhat should I do afterwards in
the run-up to the channelbecause it was such a huge, huge
thing.
I was really looking forward tolife after the channel when I
wouldn't have this looming overme and all the worries and the
kind of all the everything saton my shoulders.
And then a couple of daysafterwards, because I was on
such a high, I was like, wow,that was just the most

(50:09):
incredible experience.
I want to now swim aroundManhattan, which is it's kind of
called 20 Bridges, it's anamazing swim, it's quite iconic.
And then there's also theCatalina Channel.
If you did all those threeswims, you get the triple crown
of open water swimming.
I was planning about that, andI was thinking maybe I could
swim around Jersey, um, thatwould be amazing.
Um, all these things that I wasthinking of, and after a few

(50:30):
weeks I was starting to thinkabout it.
I was I brought it up with myhusband, and he said, Well, you
know, I completely understoodwhy you wanted to swim the
channel, I completely got that.
But where we are in life at themoment with our sons, because
one had just gone to universityand the other one, he's he's he
was just about to sit his twoCSEs this time last year.
We're not gonna be as a family,we're not gonna be together for
many more years before they allleave home.

(50:53):
And the amount of time that youspent training last year, we
didn't have a holiday before mychannel swim because I was
basically swimming the wholetime, and it really impacted our
family life.
He said there's not gonna bemany years where we're gonna
have the time together withthem.
I don't care what you do afterafter they've all left home, but
you know, the next couple ofyears are really valuable, and
that made me think, you know, itis really important to have

(51:15):
these things in my life to worktowards, but there are certain
times in life where other thingsare more important, and family
time is so valuable, especiallywhen they're teenagers and
they're gonna be going andthey're not gonna want to go on
holiday with you anymore, oractually they might if you pay
for them, but they're not andthey're not gonna want to spend
much time with you anymore, andmaybe that should be a priority.

(51:35):
And my first feeling when hesaid that to me was like, Oh,
all right then, you don't wantto support me then, but like you
know, in a typical kind ofstroppy way.
But once I actually took timeto think about what he meant, uh
I had to admit that it made alot of sense.
So the last year I've actuallyreally enjoyed just just
relaxing and enjoying andenjoying swimming and just doing

(51:55):
it be going swimming when Iwant to go swimming and doing as
much as I want to do, not anykind of crazy distances,
although I have entered a fewevents.
Next week I'm swimming in uhMontenegro at an event called
Ultra Swim 33.3, which is thedistance of the channel, but
over several days, and I'm anambassador for them, which which
I'm really excited about.
I'm really looking forward tothat because it's something

(52:17):
slightly different.
It's not a huge challenge forme, it's sort of more of like an
enjoyable thing to do, and I'mhelping them to work on their
accessibility because theyhaven't had somebody there
before who's blind, so I'mhelping them to work out how
they could support people in thefuture, and that's really what
my main fo focus has been thisyear to work with events to try
and open them up for people whoare blind and with other

(52:38):
disabilities, because not onlyis getting to these venues
really difficult, but takingpart in the open water swims are
it's really, reallychallenging.
I've had some events that haveactually said, No, we can't have
you swim and have your husbandin a kayak or somebody else on
the water in a kayak to guideyou because it's safety reasons
or whatever.
But that has meant that Ihaven't been out to a swimming

(52:58):
swimming event when I want to,and it's almost it's really
limiting, and it shouldn't belike that.
In this day and age, we shouldbe able to work around that.
So I've I've several eventsthis year I've gone along to and
sort of explained to them howthey can make it more accessible
and how I use the radio system,and their safety crew have had
the radio uh radio and guided mea little bit, and they've, you

(53:20):
know, they've helped me with thecourse and liaise with
organizing committees to try andmake their events more more
accessible.
And I think that's reallyimportant to do, and it's
something that I really reallywant to focus on, rather than
like mega challenges over thenext couple of years.
I might come back to that inthe next couple of years, but at
the moment I really want tofocus on just making things more
accessible for everybodybecause it it is it is the most

(53:42):
amazing thing to do to get intoopen water and experience being
in nature, and the buzz that youget from being in the cold is
amazing, and the the socialinteraction is incredible, and I
feel like nobody should missout on those opportunities.
And the more that I can makethese events more accessible for
people, the better.
So that's what I've focused onthis year, and that's what I
want to do next year as well.
It probably involves enteringlots of different events and

(54:04):
just trying to work with theorganized committee to help
people in the future.
And then after that, when myson, my second son, goes to
university, then maybe lookagain at bigger events.
But I feel like I have nothingleft to prove to myself at all.
I feel like I'm really happywith where I am, and I just want
to really use my experience tohelp other people.

Sue Anstiss (54:30):
My goodness, how wonderful to talk to Melanie.
She really has inspired me tothink again about that channel
swim in the future.
If you'd like to hear fromother extraordinary women like
Melanie, there are over 200episodes of the Game Changers
that are free to listen to onall podcast platforms or from
our website atfearlesswomen.co.uk.

(54:52):
Guests include elite athleteslike Melanie, along with
broadcasters, coaches,scientists, agents, journalists,
entrepreneurs, and CEOs, allwomen who are changing the game
in sport.
As well as listening to all thepodcasts on the website, you
can also find out more about theWomen's Sport Collective, a
free, inclusive community forall women who work in sport.

(55:15):
We now have over 14,000 membersacross the world, so please do
come and join us.
The whole of my book, Game OnThe Unstoppable Rise of Women's
Sport, is also free to listen toon the podcast.
Every episode of series 13 isme reading a chapter of the
book.
Thank you to Sport England forbacking the Game Changers and

(55:36):
the Women's Sport Collectivewith a National Lottery Award.
Thank you also to Stan Walkerat What Goes On Media, who does
such a great job as ourexecutive producer, along with
my brilliant colleague atFearless Women, Kate Hannon.
You can find the game changerson all podcast platforms, so do

(55:56):
follow us now and you won't missout on future episodes.
Do come and say hello on socialmedia where you'll find me on
LinkedIn and Instagram at SueAnsters.
The Game Changes.