Cornish teen does cross-Channel swim in 15 hours

Ms North said she had set her heart on swimming the Channel at 12 years old

A Cornish teenager said she feels "amazing" after completing a cross-Channel swim from England to France.

Lowenna North, 17, from Launceston, set off on the 20.5-mile (33 km) challenge from Dover to Calais on Saturday morning.

Ms North, who goes by the nickname the Ginger Swimmer, completed the challenge in about 14 hours and 56 minutes, which she said was fuelled by tinned peaches, as well as jelly beans and jelly baby sweets.

The swimmer said arriving in France was "surreal", adding the achievement was "still sinking in".

The teenager, seen here during her training, spent the summer building up her endurance with six-hour training sessions covering up to nine miles

"I think it's still sinking in now that I've actually done it," she said.

"Thank you to everyone for all the support.

"It really means a lot to not only me but to my mum, dad and my brother."

Ms North is already the youngest person to complete the 14-mile (22.5km) swim from the Eddystone Lighthouse to Plymouth Hoe - a challenge she completed when she was 15.

She said she had set her heart on swimming the Channel at the age of 12.

She added that she had spent the summer building up her endurance, culminating in training swims of up to six hours and covering up to nine miles (15km).