Paralympic medal hopes for Old Truronian

Sending our very best wishes to Fran Brown ahead of her Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games event.

On Saturday, 28 August, former Truro School pupil Fran Brown (CO03) will be taking part in the Women’s PTS2 Triathlon Event at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.

Originally from Cornwall, Fran is now based in London. She became World Para Climbing Champion in 2012 and 2014 and was an aerial acrobat in the 2012 Paralympics opening ceremony.

In 2015, Fran was selected to represent GB at the Adaptive Surfing World Championships in San Diego. She switched to the Paralympic sport of triathlon in 2016. In 2019 Fran became PTS2 World and European Champion and is now set to represent Paralympics GB at her first Paralympic games this summer.

Fran has a C4 incomplete spinal cord injury which affects the strength and control of movement in all four limbs. Fran can run and cycle with the aid of leg braces.

When she is not training or competing, Fran is a qualified physiotherapist and also works as a percussionist and session musician. She currently works as a physiotherapist and professional percussionist, playing both tuned and Latin percussion as both a member of the British Para Orchestra and session musician. She plays an adapted drum kit and works to support other disabled drummers in adapting their instruments.
Fran is in good spirits ahead of the competition on Friday. She says, “the past 18 months since… [qualifying] for the games has been challenging with some health issues and then shielding during the pandemic, but I am happy to have made it to Tokyo and ultimately want to enjoy the race experience as much as possible.”

During her time at Truro School, Fran studied the sciences at A-level alongside her interests in music and sport. Fran remarks, “the range of activities and opportunities that were available to me when I was a pupil at Truro School really showed me the diversity of elite sporting opportunities that I could undertake. Balanced with my academic and music studies, my time at Truro set me up for the demands of juggling work and sport as an adult. The focus on excellence in all areas of life also instilled a strong work ethic that I have been able to rely on throughout my training and work life.”

Andy Johnson, Truro School Head, said: “It is wonderful to see one of our former pupils representing Great Britain at such a prestigious event as the Paralympics. We are extremely proud of Fran. She is an inspiration to us all, and we wanted to wish her every success ahead of her event.”

If you are interested in finding out more about studying at Truro School, please join us for our Open Morning on Saturday, 2 October 2021, 9.30 am – 12.30 pm. For more information about that event or our school generally, do visit truroschool.com/admissions.
Photo credits: Jonny Riall and Ben Lumey.