A Putney swimming coach put his money where his mouth is to make a dream come true at the 2006 FINA World Masters Championships in America last week.

Wandsworth Swimming Club's Martin Jurco secured a career-best fourth place in the men's over-30 50m breaststroke in California after a last-minute decision to make the event at Stanford University.

The 32-year-old booked his flight just two weeks prior to the championships after his club helped fund the trip at the 11th hour.

And the Putney Squad coach repaid their faith by performing beyond expectations, setting an example to the young swimmers he teaches at Putney Leisure Centre.

"I was hoping to get into the top 10 in the world where I have never been. After finishing in the top six, I thought I was dreaming," said Jurco, who followed up with 10th spot in the 200m breaststroke.

"My training had not been going very well and I didn't know if I could afford to go until just before the championships started.

"I didn't have time to adapt to the hot conditions or recover from jet lag, so I was very surprised to do as well as I did."

Jurco founded the Putney Squad from scratch four years ago as an alternative for young swimmers.

The group made their competitive debut at the Wandsworth Borough Swimming Championships last month, setting a string of personal bests as they finished third in the team competition.

And now Jurco hopes his exploits can inspire the next generation to follow in his footsteps.

"It is important the youngsters I instruct know the person teaching them has been there and done it all before," he said.

"You need them to believe in what they are doing."

The World Masters event, which attracted the top-10 performers in each event from across the globe, saw close to 100 world records in the pool, many by former Olympic champions.

Tony Pearce, Jurco's coach at Wandsworth, added: "He is a good role model by which every young swimmer in the club should judge themselves."