A BOWNESS teenager immersed herself in the icy waters of Windermere and swam the length of the lake for charity, reports Lisa Frascarelli.

Windermere St Anne's pupil Michelle Lefton, 15, raised £1,500 for Macmillan Nurses and her school's forthcoming sports tour after completing the 10.5 mile swim from Ambleside to Newby Bridge.

Although not a natural swimmer, Michelle is a keen sportswoman, having played hockey at county level, and she completed the chilly crossing in 7hrs 40mins while encouraged by her mother Janet, who followed in a rowing boat.

She is not the first in her family to swim the length of the lake for charity and was following in the wake of her mum who is a keen swimmer, her aunt and her cousin.

Michelle decided to tackle the swim after the recent death of a friend from cancer, and began her training schedule - swimming laps of Belle Isle - a month before the big day.

Despite being smothered in petroleum jelly, Michelle said the cold water ensured that she emerged from her cross-lake bid blue.

"It was cold and raining but I was determined to finish.

I found the first half was alright but the second half was really quite hard.

By the end of the swim I was so cold I had turned blue, but I was really glad I had done it."