FORMER Yorkshire and England international swimmer Cathy Wilkinson has died aged 71.

Her funeral took place yesterday in Titisee, Germany where she had lived for the last two years with her husband Allan.

As a teenager, Mrs Wilkinson (nee Dunn) from York represented England at backstroke and won the Yorkshire Women's Championship.

At the end of her swimming career, she began coaching, initially in Bradford, before returning to York.

In 1973, in partnership with Kath Stubbs, she set up the KC Swim Club based at New Earswick and Strensall and taught hundreds of children to swim before retiring two years ago.

She also taught life saving and helped with the swimming for the disabled at New Earswick pool.

Apart from swimming, she served as a Samaritan for five years, worked as a member of the St. John’s Ambulance for eleven years and volunteered at at St. Leonard’s Hospice.

She also played badminton in local leagues for York Hospital and ran keep fit classes in the Heworth area.

In 2013, she was a runner-up in the Sporting Hero category of the Press Community Pride awards which are run in conjunction with the City of York Council.

A thanksgiving service will be held in York in the New Year. She leaves a daughter Jane and son Gareth.