Sunny Lowry's Embroidered Pilots Flag

Embroidered Flag made by Sunny Lowry for her Channel swim 1933 used on pilot boat. The base of the flag appears to be white cotton or linen. In the top left hand corner is the Union Jack, then the letters “LSC” in the middle (Levenshulme Swimming Club),  and four red flowers in the right hand corner (Lancashire red rose). Under this is a large ‘Manchester’ bee badge and at the bottom it says “Manchester”.

Ethel (Sunny) Lowry was trained by Jabez Wolffe. She successfully swam the Channel on Aug 28 1933, time 15 hours 41 mins, from Cap Gris-Nez to St Margaret’s Bay. In 1933 there were 18 attempts and only Sunny was successful. Sunny swam in a two piece swimming costume, now at Dover Museum. She had two unsuccessful attempts: Aug 10 1932 (time 14 hours 00 mins) and July 27 1933 (time 6 hours 00 mins). She became the President of the Channel Swimming Association in 2000. In 2003 Sunny was inducted into the Swimming Hall of Fame. In 2005 she was awarded the MBE, for services to swimming. In 2014 “The Sunny Lowry Road” was opened in Beswick. The swim was in 1933 and was finally recognised by the CSA in March 1958 through the perseverance of her husband.

No Comments

Start the ball rolling by posting a comment on this page!

Add a comment about this page

Your email address will not be published.

More photos of Lowry, Ethel 'Sunny'