"Having that crowd and that feel of the atmosphere, it's got to give you a buzz to get down that pool pretty quick," Hext told the BBC.

As well as being able to hear the crowd's cheers, having the "massive support" of her friends and family there would make a "huge difference", she said.

"Emotionally, I wouldn't be where I am today without my family and my partner and friends. It’s a team effort to get to this point," she added.

Hext, who was born with a hearing impairment and is now profoundly deaf, will be competing in the S5 100m freestyle. She was also paralysed from the waist down in 2012 after a horse riding accident which broke her pelvis, spinal cord, shoulder and suffered a brain injury.

In 2021, Hext had a cochlear implant fitted in her right ear that allowed her to hear again which she described as “life-changing”.

While Hext may have spent some of her hospitalised time "in a rut”, she quickly recovers from it. In fact, after a five-day stint in a high-dependency ward for respiratory illness, she won her first world title just 36 hours after being released from the hospital. 

Hext said she was "super excited" for the Paralympic Games and wants to "fully immerse herself in the whole experience".

"Being around teammates, cheering each other on, that's a massive part of it. Obviously I'd love to win a medal, but if I come out of Paris giving it everything I've got and knowing that I put everything in that I can, then I'll be over the moon," the reigning world champion said.