Born in Scartho in 1927, she learned to swim during her family’s summer holidays in nearby Mablethorpe, and joined Grimsby’s Mermaids club where she trained with her coach, Mr McNally. When preparing for her cross-Channel race – her first venture into distance swimming – Brenda trained for six hours at a time at Alexandra Dock and the pools in Cleethorpes and Eleanor Street, Grimsby. On the day of the race, Brenda competed against 20 other swimmers from around the world whilst proudly wearing the Mermaids logo across her swimming costume. When she returned to Grimsby with her trophy, over 60,000 people came out to line the streets and welcome her home.

Brenda went on to set two more incredible records during her swimming career – a 32-mile race in Canada’s Lake Ontario and the 29-mile River Nile race in Egypt. After retiring from competitive distance swims, Brenda became a swimming teacher at her much-loved club, teaching thousands of local children to swim.