YOUNG swimmers have been given Olympic inspiration after a visit from recordbreaking athlete Chris Cook.

The 32-year-old, who has held the British and Commonwealth records for 100m breaststroke after becoming the first British male to go under a minute, visited teenagers from Darlington Amateur Swimming Club.

Mr Cook, who was an Olympic finalist at Beijing and won the BBC North-East Sports Personality of the Year in 2006, is from South Shields and hoped to inspire the young swimmers.

He spoke to them and their parents before getting into the pool and coaching the group.

The club's head coach, Glen Fenby, said: "Getting teenagers up at 5am to train before school and then getting them back again in the evening is not an easy task.

"I hope that by meeting Chris - an ordinary lad with a big dream -my swimmers will now be motivated and have belief in themselves enough to fulfil their dreams and ambitions.

"The reaction from the youngsters having an Olympian in their training pool was fantastic.

"I won't be surprised if the whole club turns up to training in the mornings now.

"I'm very proud of these young people."