David Davies

David Michael Rhys Davies (born 3 March 1985) is a Welsh former competitive swimmer who has represented Wales at the Commonwealth Games, and swam for Great Britain in Olympic, World and European competition. He is the 2006 Commonwealth Games champion at 1500 metres freestyle and holds the rare distinction of having won medals in all six major long-course and short-course international championships available to him, including 2 x at the Olympic Games, 2 x at the World Championships, 1 x at the World Championships (25m), 1 x at the European Championships, 3x at the European Championships (25m) and finally 2x at the Commonwealth Games.

Swimming career At the 2003 European Junior Championships he won a gold medal. He also swam at the 2004 European Championships and the 2005 World Championships.

At the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, Davies won the 1,500 freestyle and was third in the 400 freestyle. In 2008, he finished second in the 1500 free at the 2008 Short Course Worlds.

Davies qualified for the Olympics 10K at the 2008 Open Water World Championships in Seville, Spain where he finished just 0.03 behind the winner.

As noted below, he represented Great Britain at the 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics. In the open-water 10K race in Beijing, Davies finished second, taking silver in the new Olympic event. Shortly after finishing the event, there was concern for Davies' health as first aid staff carried him off on a stretcher. Davies told the BBC shortly afterward: "For the last part of it I was delirious, I wanted it so bad. I've given it everything – the stretcher at the end was a bit mad but I've got something to show for it. I felt a bit violated to be honest, people swimming all over me, and the last lap was a real struggle.".

2012 London Olympics At the 2012 Olympics, after suffering from issues with his technique and form in 2011, Davies managed to qualify for the British team for the games in London. In the Olympic preliminaries, he was unable to make the 1,500 final, placing 16th in the stiff competition of the prelims with a time of 15:44.77.

Three months after the London Olympics, Davies announced his retirement and began working as an athlete mentor with project Sport Wales.

Short course (25 m)