THE achievements of a nine-time champion swimmer who went on to train Olympians is going on display to help inspire athletes of the future.

Visitors at Freeman’s Quay leisure centre, in Durham, will be able to find out more about Durham’s champion swimmer Norman Sarsfield, who also coached the Great Britain swimming team and helped multiple athletes go onto win British, Commonwealth and Olympic honours.

They will also be able to see the FINA trophy he was awarded by the world governing body of swimming for his extraordinary contribution to swimming at all levels.

Mr Sarsfield, who died in 2003, had been the Durham City swimming champion nine times, coached the GB swimming team between 1955 and 1969 and managed the 1968 Olympic swimming team in Mexico, the GB team at the 1975 World Championships in Colombia and the European team at the inaugural 1979 FINA World Cup in Tokyo.

He went on to write four books about his experiences in swimming.

He also served with the Durham Light Infantry in the Second World War, and was awarded the Military Cross for gallantry under fire, and went onto to become a Durham city councillor and the Mayor of Durham in 1964/65.

He was also a driving force behind bringing the Commonwealth Games to Manchester in 2002.

He is the only British citizen to have been awarded the FINA prize, which he was presented with in 1990.

Nigel Dodds, strategic manager for culture and sport at Durham County Council, which runs the leisure centre, said: “We were delighted when Norman’s family approached us and asked if we could put the trophy on public display.

“We hope his story provides inspiration for those who see it and it is fitting that the achievements of a local man in the sport of swimming are displayed in the facility that replaced the pool that Norman first used when his love for the sport developed.”

As well as his major swimming achievements, the trophy is accompanied by an interpretation panel and timeline which celebrates Sarsfield’s triumphs inside and outside the world of swimming.

The trophy was officially unveiled on Thursday and people can now go and see the display.