Doris Storey, an east Leeds tailoring worker who became a world champion swimmer, died peacefully in the early hours of yesterday morning. She was 85.

Her death came just days after she had been honoured in her absence in Australia where her picture has been hung in the "Hall of Fame" at Sydney Olympic swimming pool where she won two gold medals in the Empire Games of 1938.

Mr Harding and his wife Pauline were welcomed by the Mayor of North Sydney, Genia McCaffery and a report of the event appeared in the Yorkshire Evening Post on Thursday.

Doris's son Ron Quarmby took a copy of the paper to show his mother in the Allerton Bywater nursing home where she has lived in poor health for some years.

Doris was a member of East Leeds Swimming Club, training early in the morning before she began her shift at the factory. By the time she was 17 she had been selected to take part in the Berlin Olympics.

She was fastest in the heats in Berlin, making her favourite to win a gold medal in the 200m breast stroke. But before the race she fell and injured her arm. She still competed, and led in the early stages, but could not overcome the effects of the injury and came in sixth.

The round-the-world journey was momentous for Doris. Apart from Berlin games the furthest distance she had been from her Leeds home was to Scarborough.

Her return to Leeds was marked by the turn-out of tens of thousands of ordinary people to welcome her. They packed York Road to cheer the working class girl who had reached the pinnacle of sporting fame. She was just 19.

Doris was a favourite for later Olympic Games but the war intervened, though she was still a record holder when the London Olympic games approached in 1948.

She came second in trials in Scarborough, and should have made the team. But by then Doris was married and had a two-year-old child, and the selectors rejected her, saying she had family commitments.

Lord Mayor of Leeds Councillor Bill Hyde said today: "I'd like to offer my deepest sympathies to Doris Storey's family and friends. Doris was Leeds' first international swimming champion, and started a long tradition of success in the sport that saw the likes of Adrian Moorhouse and 15 other Olympians from Leeds swim to victory.

"We hope to ensure that a record of her achievement is recognised within the new Swimming and Diving Centre at South Leeds Stadium, which is due to open in 2007."

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