Harriet Lee

Olympic speaker and British Paralympian Harriet Lee is a disabled swimmer who suffers from Beckwith-wiedemann syndrome; despite her disability however Lee is a successful sportswoman and inspiration to young people across Britain, she works as a motivational sports speaker at educational, sporting and youth events and, alongside fellow swimmer and Olympic speaker Ellie Simmonds, helped to make London 2012 the most successful Paralympic Games to date.

Swimming regularly from a young age it had long been a dream of Lee’s to represent her country at a competitive level, this dream came to fruition in 2010 when Harriet Lee travelled to the Netherlands to participate in the World Championships as part of the 4x100 metre individual medley and 100 metres breaststroke.

Unfortunately Lee would spend some time over the next 12 months battling against injury and it was not until 2012 that she was once again well enough to take part in any serious competitions. The time away did not hamper Harriet’s success however, on the 8th of September Harriet Lee won a bronze medal in the women’s 100 metre breaststroke at the summer 2012 Paralympic Games, after breaking the European record in the heats with a time of less than 1 minute 20 seconds.

Harriet’s amazing success came only four months after being discharged from intensive care and it is her determination and ambition that have made her such an impressive sports speaker. Frequently appearing at sporting and after dinner speaker events Harriet Lee is a passionate and dedicated Olympic speaker whose own personal journey serves to demonstrate how pride and perseverance can help once achieve any goal or overcome any obstacle.