CHAMPION channel swimmer Sunny Lowry has died aged 97.

Sunny, known to thousands of people across Warrington, was the first English woman to swim across the English Channel.

She was also a pioneer in hydrotherapy treatments and was credited with "teaching the town to swim" in the 1960s and 70s.

Among her other achievements was to play a key role in the recent rennovation at Manchester's Victoria Baths and she helped Little Britain star David Walliams in his charity swim across the channel in 2006.

She died yesterday, Wednesday, following a short illness.

And Sunny, from Fairfield, was awarded an MBE back in 2006.

Her niece, Anne Signol, said: "Sunny was a truly inspirational woman. She was always positive and the word No' was never an option to her.

"She touched the lives of so many people, from the thousands of children she taught to swim, to the many friends of Victoria Baths.

"Swimming was her true love and despite losing her sight, she was still dipping into the water even in her nineties," she said.

She was also known as Sunny Anderson, her husband Bill died many years ago.

You can leave a tribute to Sunny by clicking the comments link on this page.