Blind Woman Swims Across Lake Geneva

Melanie Barratt became the first blind person to swim across Lake Geneva, the largest lake in Switzerland.  Together with her relay teammates, who alternated swimming one hour at a time, they traversed the 44 mile lake in 27 hours, 36 minutes and 19 seconds.

47-year old Melanie was born with congenital toxoplasmosis, a rare condition resulting in severe visual impairment.  She won gold medals in swimming at the Paralympics in 1996 and 2000.  During her Lake Geneve swim, she communicated with her team using special bone-conducting headphones.

During the nighttime portion of the swim, her teammates could completely empathize with how Melanie had to deal with lengthy swims without being able to see anything, and just how challenging that was.

Lake Geneva: Blind woman completes epic Lake Geneva swim

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