Since 1952, dozens of new roads have been built in the town. Some have been named after local worthies, others after total nonentities.

But in a remarkable oversight on the part of Worthing Borough Council, there is still no permanent memorial to Angela Barnwell.

In August 1952, more than 5,000 people gathered outside Worthing Town Hall for a civic reception to mark 16-year-old Angela's return from the Helsinki Olympics, where the Worthing Swimming Club member had reached the final of the women's 100m freestyle, staged in an outdoor pool in drizzling rain.

She came last but she was the youngest competitor in the final and only a stroke behind the winner.

Angela was put off by a false start, got away badly and had the further misfortune to turn sluggishly.

She lost at least a yard-and-a-half at the turn but made it up on the last length and came within less than a second of glory.

Despite the result, Angela said: "To reach this far is beyond my wildest dreams. I have never swum so well in my life."

She later revealed that five days before the final she had been knocked down by a tram in Helsinki. But she had kept the extent of her injuries a secret.

She recalled: "Everything is on the wrong side of the road out there, of course. I stepped off the pavement one day and was hit full force by the buffer of the tram as it went by. I went flying, I grazed the side of my thigh and my elbow. That was on July 23 and I swam on the 27th."

As she flew home, neighbours decorated her home, 21 Orchard Avenue, with flags and bunting in patriotic colours.

The mayor, Rita Summers, presented her with a silver power compact inlaid with gold.

The Argus reported: "The car drew up outside the town hall at about 8.45.

Cheering men, women and children surged forward as she stepped from the car. She walked shyly up the steps of the Town Hall to be welcomed by the mayor.

Smiling and laughing she said clearly, but rather hesitantly: 'Thank you very much, everybody. It really is a surprise to see you all. I didn't expect this.'"

Somebody began For She's A Jolly Good Fellow and the crowd joined in wholeheartedly.

She was whisked off to the Pier Pavilion to speak to a full bank holiday house at the Gay Parade show.

Of her future, Angela said: "I want to keep up my swimming and go to Melbourne in 1956 and bring back a gold medal."

Sadly, she failed to qualify for Australia, which was a huge disappointment for the strapping 6ft girl with fair brown hair and brown eyes.

Born in Worthing in January 1936, Angela attended Broadwater and Davison Schools.

She taught herself to swim at the age of nine when Worthing beach was reopened after the Second World War and she was able to go for a dip in the sea, a luxury denied to the public while Britain was threatened with invasion.

Her talents were honed at Heene Baths in Heene Road and in 1950 she won the Sussex schoolgirls' 100-yard championships, giving her a chance of Olympic glory.

Barnwell was only 29 when she died in 1965 at St Bartholomew's Hospital, London, after a long illness, leaving a husband, fellow Olympic simmer Duncan Kemp, and a four-year-old daughter.

Her funeral took place at Kingston-on-Thames Crematorium.

One of her trainers, LF Bowley, paid the following tribute: "She was a great fighter.

"Unfortunately her illness was one of the races she could not win. But her morale was never beaten. She was the greatest swimmer Worthing and the rest of the county ever had."

Today, Worthing Swimming Club members still compete annually for a trophy named after her.

But club chairman Peter McCallum is astonished the town has forgotten its greatest sporting talent.

He said: "To reach an Olympic final is a magnificent feat. I think it would be a tremendous idea if the council named a road after Angela, perhaps in West Durrington. Duncan Goodhew (who won a breaststroke gold at the 1980 Moscow Olympics) has a road named after him in Walberton.

"It is easy to forget these people but we should remember them."