Swimming hero Doris is honoured with a new city building in her name

She's a Leeds swimming champion who first made a splash representing Great Britain at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin - when she famously refused to stand up when Hitler walked into the stadium.

- by Harriet Sutton

Now the late Doris Storey is going down in history again, with a building named after her and a mural inspired by women in swimming. A blue plaque for Doris is also in the works at a separate Leeds location.

The new Leeds City Council development, which comprises 25 one-bedroom apartments and eight two and three-bedroom houses, has been built on brownfield land at Brooklands Avenue in Seacroft.

Its apartments are all located in a building that has been named in honour of the east Leeds swimmer Doris, who was just 19 when she won two gold medals in Sydney at the Empire Games of 1938. Breaststroke swimmer Doris, who swam for Montague Burton SC and East Leeds SC, represented Great Britain at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin before striking gold two years later at the games, which were the forerunner to today's Commonwealth Games. She died in a Castleford nursing home in October 2005, aged 86.

Two of Doris's grandchildren, brothers Darren and Damian Quarmby, were joined at Brooklands Avenue by senior councillors and other stakeholders for an event celebrating the imminent completion of the scheme. Guests at the event were also given a sneak preview of a new Leeds Civic Trust blue plaque honouring Doris's achievements.