David Davies – 400m & 1500m Freestyle

If you would like further information please contact us on:
'Nuff' Respect Ltd
Email: nuff_respect@msn.com
Tel: +44 (0) 20 8891 4145

David Davies is one of Britain’s most outstanding swimmers and one of the brightest medal prospects for the future.  David’s fantastic performance at the 2004 Athens Olympics, winning Britain’s second only medal in the pool proved just what an extraordinary talent David possesses.    

David started swimming at his local swimming club in Barry, South Wales, when he was 7 years of age and a year later he joined his current club, The City of Cardiff.  He has been coached by Dave Haller since 2000 before this he was coached by Dave’s assistant, John Stow.

In 1999, David was selected to swim for the Welsh U15 team and hasn’t looked back since.  He broke through the ranks to be selected for the British junior team in 2001.  David competed at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Murcia, Spain and won the silver in the 200m Freestyle in a time of 1.55.04mins. He won a second silver medal as part of the 4X200m Freestyle Team. This was also the first year that David won his age group at the National Championships in the 100m, 200m and 400m Freestyle. 

However, it was in 2002 that David made a real splash in the swimming world.  David was British Short Course Champion for the 1500m and for the first time qualified for a place on the British Senior Team competing at the European Short Course Championships in Germany, where he won silver in the 1500m Freestyle. At the European Short Course Championships in Linz, Austria David finished in 2nd place in the 1500m freestyle and won a bronze medal as part of the 4X200m Freestyle Team. 
For the second year running he became National Age Group Champion for the 200m & 400m Freestyle.

2002 was also the year when aged only 17, David swam for Wales at the Manchester Commonwealth Games. He caused quite a sensation when he remarkably took a staggering 50 seconds off his previous personal best in the 1500m Freestyle. Even though he finished in 6th place his mature performance indicated that he had the medal winning potential to hold his own on the world stage.  He decided that the 1500m was his distance and decided that he would focus his training towards securing a place on the Olympic team for Athens in 2004. His training and general outlook became more professional. He made it into the World Top 15 and was voted ‘Best European Newcomer 2002’.

In 2003 David took silver in both the 1500m & 800m Freestyle and bronze in the 400m at the World Championship Trails. As part of the British Team he travelled to Barcelona for the World Championships, where he just missed out on a medal with 4th place in the 1500m Freestyle.
David was busy at the European Junior Championships in Glasgow. He took home three Freestyle medals; gold in the 1500m, silver in the 200m and bronze in the 400m.
To top off another great year David was awarded Welsh Sports Personality of the year and the Carwyn James Award for Welsh Junior Male.

David continued to excel in 2004. Early in the year he won gold at the USA Spring Championships in Florida for the 1500m Freestyle.
Back in the UK David focused on the British Championships and Olympic Trials. Proving his continuing development in the 1500m Freestyle he won Gold in this event and set a new British Record of 14.57.93mins, he also took Bronze in the 400m Freestyle.

The highlight of David’s career so far is the moment he was presented with the Olympic bronze medal for the 1500m Freestyle in Athens. He came third behind Australia’s Grant Hackett and America’s Larsen Jensen. Grant Hackett set the standards high, being just the 4th man ever to win the race twice at the Olympics in a time of 14.43.40mins. David had the race of his life setting a new European Record & personal best of 14.45.95mins, making him the second only British medal winner in the pool at the Games.

There was no rest for David after the Olympics; on his return from Athens he participated in the Olympic Heroes Parade in central London in which the public lined the streets to celebrate the success of the Games. He then returned to Cardiff to continue training intensely in preparation for the European Short Course Championships in Vienna early December.

With no rest behind him David was reluctant to predict his performance in Vienna. However he exceeded all expectations and came away with two personal best times and a new British Record.
David’s first event of the Championships was the 400m Freestyle, where he came 6th with a personal best time of 3.46.02mins. David is becoming well known for breaking records and did it yet again in the 1500m Freestyle in Vienna. He smashed his personal best time, knocking off the almost 10seconds from 14.42.51mins to 14.32.56mins. David not only got a Silver medal from this outstanding performance, but at the same time stole the British Record from Graeme Smith, which previously stood at 14.37.28mins.
The public showed their appreciation David’s achievements throughout the year by voting him in 3rd place at ‘The Welsh Sports Personality of the Year’ Awards whilst he was out in Vienna.
He also picked up the ‘Star Swimmer’ and ‘Performance of the Year’ awards at the Splash event held in February this year. This was the first-ever awards dinner held specifically for swimming.

2005 was a very busy year for David. After a short training camp in Barcelona he took part in a historic competition known as the Mare Nostrum, where he set a new Championship record in the 1500m freestyle of 15.08.51mins.
David travelled to the Gold Coast of Australia for his next training camp, where the sun on his back eased the intensity of the gruelling training sessions slightly.
In June whilst briefly back home in Wales he competed in Swansea, the last chance for practice before the World Champs. Much to his surprise he swam his second fastest time of the year, 15.02.33mins. This was also his best un-rested time for the 1500m, which means when he wasn’t completely prepared for competition.

David’s next trip was to Montreal for the World Championships, the training and preparation was over and the real competition loomed.
David started with the 800m, where he qualified for the final with a time of 7.51.92mins. He bettered this time for 6th place in the final with 7.51.54mins.
David’s focus was of course the 1500m, where he qualified for the final with the top time of all the heats in 14.59.33, almost a second faster than Grant Hackett.
In the final David battled for a medal, moving from 4th position to 2nd in the last phase of the race. He was just edged out of the Silver medal position by American Larsen Jensen, to take the bronze as they fought for top spots behind the ever dominant Grant Hackett. David clocked a time of 14.48.11mins, a fantastic performance after his performance in Athens last year.
With no rest at all, David travelled straight to the Sheffield for the Commonwealth Games trials. He won his heat for the 1500m in a time of 15.37.63mins and followed this by a great win in the final in 14.59.20mins.
Although he had another great swim in the 400m, with a time very close to his personal best of 3.50.66mins, it was 2 seconds off Commonwealth Games qualifying.

David took a very well deserved two week break at the end of August in order to rest completely in preparation for the new season.
September is the start of the new season and is a tough time for Swimmers as they put in the miles to re-condition their bodies.
David went back to the Goal Coast for five weeks to get some really intense training behind him. The circuit sessions on the beach, cycling to and from training and the outdoor pool all helped ease the gruelling training programme.
Not long after returning to Wales David went on a two week training camp with fellow Welsh team mates to Lanzarote. It was here that he heard the news that Grant Hacket had withdrawn from the Commonwealth Games, which gained a lot of press interest both in Great Britain and Australia. Being an Athlete that likes to compete against the best, David was very disappointed to hear this.

David competed in Swansea early December before heading off to Italy for the European Short Course Championships mid-December.  He had a tough race after months of intense training won a silver medal in 15.35 minutes. 

David travelled to the Gold Coast in January of 2006 to focus entirely on preparation for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne at the end of March.
He spent time training with the Welsh team, enjoying the luxury of swimming outdoors in the sunshine.
David was disappointed by the news that Grant Hackett withdrew from the Games due to a shoulder injury, but was determined to swim his own race and still achieve a good time.
With immense pressure on his shoulders to win Gold David swam an amazing race, a long way a head of the field for the entire race. He maintained a good pace and took the victory in the 1500m securing the first Welsh Gold in the pool since 1974. He clocked a time of 15.57.63mins, which considering he had no one to pressure him was fantastic.
David had already won bronze for Wales in the 400m Freestyle earlier in the competition, setting a new personal best and Welsh record of 3.49.44mins.

As an Olympic, World Championship and Commonwealth medal winner David has been in very high demand out of the pool. He has been working to promote London’s bid for the 2012 Olympic Games and fitting in numerous media interviews.
David’s training regime is intense; he’s in the pool six days a week, mostly twice a day. In his little spare time he enjoys watching Football & Rugby, he supports Cardiff FC. He is a fan of dance music to motivate him before training and competition and Indie music in his time off.
Being born and bred in Wales David speaks conversational Welsh.
He is sponsored by Speedo and Uskmouth Power and coached by Dave Haller.