A Furness swimmer has completed a once-in-a-lifetime 56-mile challenge with five celebrities.

Rebecca Lewis, from Little Urswick, swam for 35 hours and 18 minutes as part of The Swim – an epic relay team challenge across the treacherous Irish Sea to raise cash for charity.

Rebecca, below, swam with boy band legend Ronan Keating, actress and therapist Pamela Stephenson, The Gadget Show host Jason Bradbury, former British butterfly swimmer and Olympic medallist Steve Parry and TV presenter Jenny Frost as part of the fundraiser for Cancer Research UK.

Rebecca, who is a physiotherapist, enjoyed every minute of the event and said: “I’ve loved it. We were very fortunate with the condition of the Irish Sea. The whole team pulled together and the celebs did so well despite not being used to swimming in open water.

“The only problem I faced was not being able to sleep in-between my turns to swim as I was so full of adrenaline and excitement. I’m also not used to relay swimming, but it was a fantastic experience.”

Rebecca, 27, who lives with mum Katie and Dad Roger, was chosen for the challenge because of her remarkable swimming achievements.

She learned to swim as a baby and was a member of Ulverston Swimming Club by the age of three. Two years later, she started competing at club level.

At 19, she found her true passion for open water swimming and has since notched up a number of record-breaking achievements - including swimming the English Channel three times.

Last year, she became the fastest British woman to swim the Channel with a time of eight hours and 35 minutes.

Steve Parry, who was first to touch land, said: “The Swim has been the biggest challenge of my life.”

To sponsor Rebecca, visit uk.virginmoney giving.com/beckylewis