Havering Paralympian leaves her 'bench mark'
Havering Council has turned a park bench from green to bronze to honour local Paralympian Amy Marren.
The swimming sensation from Romford won bronze at last year’s Rio Paralympics and the Council’s Parks team has changed the colour of the bench in Hylands Park to recognise her achievement.
The bronze bench was unveiled when Amy visited the park on her 19th birthday (Tuesday 14 August 2017), to officially cut the ribbon, joined by Councillor Melvin Wallace, Cabinet Member for Culture and Community Engagement, and Del Ganly, Friends of Hylands Park.
Amy, said: “It's a great honour to be recognised by the Council and an even bigger honour to have my name in my local park that I spent many summers growing up in.
“Thank you to Havering for playing their part in putting the Paralympic Games and Paralympic sport on the map. This bench is a real testament to Havering's commitment to both para sport and home grown talent.”
Councillor Melvin Wallace, said: “Amy is an excellent role model for young people in Havering and it seemed fitting to celebrate her success in one of her favourite places.
“I hope that the bench will not only act as reminder of Amy’s achievements, but will also serve as an inspiration to us all, that it really is possible to be successful in anything we want to do.”
Amy first learnt to swim when she was four years old and now trains with Romford Town Swimming Club.
She represented Great Britain for the first time at the 2011 German Swimming Championships in Berlin.
At London 2012, Amy made her Games debut as one of the youngest athletes in Paralympics GB. She recorded personal best times in all of her events and qualified for two Paralympic finals.
The following year she impressed at the 2013 IPC Swimming World Championships in Montreal, Canada, winning four world titles, in addition to four gold and two silver medals.