York Road Baths: Blue plaque celebrates remarkable life of swimmer Doris Storey

Leeds Civic Trust has announced its 208th blue plaque will celebrate the life of East Leeds swimming champion Doris Storey.

Champion swimmer Doris trained at the old York Road Baths when she wasn’t working as a machinist at the Burton’s clothing factory in Burmantofts. She won two gold medals in 1938 in the Empire Games in Sydney.

The blue plaque will be unveiled on Friday, 6 March, 2pm, at the front of York Road Baths.

Martin Hamilton, Leeds Civic Trust Director Said:

“Doris was a true swimming great. She competed and won at the highest level whilst holding down a job at Burton’s factory. Her story deserves this recognition.”

The wording for the blue plaque is as follows:

Doris Storey

This champion swimmer trained here at York Road Baths when not working as

a machinist at the nearby Burton’s clothing factory.

Feted by crowds of well-wishers on returning to Leeds following her
international debut in the 1936 Berlin Olympics, she won two gold medals in

1938 in the Empire Games in Sydney.

1919-2005

Doris Storey background

Doris Storey was a swimming champion who was born, lived, worked and trained in Leeds. She was born in 1919 lived in East Leeds, and trained at the York Road Swimming Baths.

Her first international appearance was in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin at the age of 17, when she finished sixth in the breaststroke, though she was hampered by a wrist injury prior to the competition. She is said to have refused to stand when Hitler entered the stadium.

Even though she didn’t win a medal, she was honoured with a civic reception and crowds of well-wishers on her return to Leeds.

The 1938 British Empire Games (effectively a forerunner of the Commonwealth Games) were held in Sydney in 1938. Here, she won gold medals in the breaststroke and medley events. In the same year, she won a silver medal at the European Championships.

Doris would have been in her prime during the war years, when no competitive swimming competitions were held. She qualified for the 1948 Olympics still holding the British breaststroke record, but was not selected in favour of a younger but slower swimmer.

The reason for this was that it was felt inappropriate for her to compete “given her family commitments” (she was married and had a young child.)

When she was not swimming, she worked as a machinist for Burtons – as a working-class woman with limited means, her background contrasted with many of the “lady amateurs” of the time.

Following the end of her career, she ran a fish and chip shop in Osmondthorpe.

A few days before her death in 2005, her picture was displayed in the North Sydney Olympic Pool Hall of Fame. In 2023, her legacy was further recognised through the naming of Doris Storey House, a new council housing development at Brooklands Avenue in Seacroft

Leeds Civic Trust is a charity established in 1965 that promotes the improvements of Leeds in the spheres of planning, architecture, heritage, and city amenities. It is responsible for the “Blue Plaque” scheme in the city.

The historic Blue Plaques scheme in Leeds celebrates people, places, events and buildings that have made an important contribution to the city’s development.