Davis Tarwater

Davis Edward Tarwater (born March 24, 1984) is an American swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. He grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee and began competitive swimming at age seven. During high school, he set three state swimming records and led Webb School of Knoxville to the state title. In 2002, he was named High School Swimmer of the Year. Tarwater attended the University of Michigan, earning a bachelor's degree in political science, and St. Antony's College, Oxford earning a master's degree in Latin American Studies.

At Michigan, he shifted his focus from the freestyle to the butterfly. He was a three-time NCAA national champion and thirteen-time All-American. Tarwater set three Big Ten conference and six school records en route to six Big Ten titles. In his senior season, he was awarded the Big Ten Medal of Honor, recognizing his joint athletic and academic excellence throughout his college career.

Tarwater has represented the United States in the World Championships three times, winning a gold medal as part of the 4×200-meter freestyle relay team in 2009. He has won three individual and five relay national titles, and has finished in the top three more than fifteen times. In 2011, he set an American record in the 200-meter butterfly, and as of 2012 jointly holds two additional national records in relay events. He qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012. In 2004, 2008 and 2012, he narrowly missed making the Olympic team in the 200-meter butterfly. In 2012, he finished seventh in the 200-meter freestyle and missed qualifying for the U.S. 4×200-meter freestyle relay team by one spot. Michael Phelps elected to scratch the 200-meter freestyle from his Olympic schedule, however, allowing Tarwater to make the team. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Tarwater won a gold medal for his contributions in the preliminary heats of the 4×200-meter freestyle relay.

Early life Tarwater was born March 24, 1984, to Dwight and Mary Tarwater in Knoxville, Tennessee. At age 10, he won the Knoxville City Meet title in the 25-yard butterfly for his age group. In 1993, Tarwater won the 10-year-old and younger 50-meter butterfly at the AAU Junior Olympic Games. As a congratulations, he got a personal letter from Olympic gold medalist Melvin Stewart. His father later said the [letter] got Davis really excited about swimming. The next year, Tarwater joined the Pilot Aquatic Club and began to compete on the national stage.

Tarwater played baseball and basketball, and ran track before deciding the concentrate on swimming during seventh grade. In 1999, he won both the 800- and 1500-meter freestyle events at the Junior Nationals, beating Michael Phelps in the latter. He qualified for his first U.S. Olympic Trials in 2000 at age 16.

In 2001, Tarwater finished third at the Summer Nationals in the 1500-meter freestyle. He represented the United States at the 2001 Goodwill Games and was named "Athlete of the Year" by Southeastern Swimming Local Swimming Committee. At the state finals, he broke the Tennessee 500-yard freestyle record by five seconds and also captured the 100-yard butterfly state record. At the U.S. Spring National Championships, Tarwater made the finals in four events. He placed third in the 200-meter butterfly, sixth in the 1500-meter freestyle, and eighth in both the 400- and the 800-meter freestyle events.

Tarwater was a nine-time high school All-American and was the 2002 High School Swimmer of the Year. After graduation, he was inducted into the school's hall of fame. He was part of the university's 4×200-meter freestyle team that took first place at the NCAA Championships. The group's time of 7:01.42 set a new U.S. Open record.

Tarwater qualified for the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials and finished fourth in the 200-meter butterfly, missing the Olympics by less than half a second. In the 100-meter butterfly, he placed fourth. At Summer Nationals, Tarwater placed second in the 100-meter butterfly and was part of the National Championship winning 4×100-meter freestyle relay team. At the 2005 World Championships, he narrowly missed out on the medals, finishing fourth in the 200-meter butterfly. He narrowly missed the NCAA record, coming up six-hundredths of a second short. He also finished fourth in the 100-yard butterfly, and was part of the second place 4×200-yard freestyle relay team.

During his college career, Tarwater was a 13-time All-America selection. He was a first team All-Big Ten member all four years of college, and received Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2004, 2005, and 2006. He also teamed up with Klete Keller, Matthew Patton, and Alex Vanderkaay to win the 4×200-meter freestyle trophy, winning by more than six seconds. At the end of the season, Tarwater was ranked 13th in the world at the 200-meter butterfly and 34th at the 100-meter butterfly. In the semi-finals, he placed tenth, missing the finals by 0.11 seconds. Later in 2007, Tarwater won his second national championship in the 200-meter butterfly. He led the race from start to finish, beating Gil Stovall by 1.1 seconds. "It was a good race," he said. "I felt really in control. I felt a lot stronger and a lot better." He also placed third in the 100-meter butterfly. At the Short Course National Championships, Tarwater teamed up with Michael Phelps, Peter Vanderkaay, and Chris DeJong to capture the 4×200-yard freestyle relay title. The quartet's time of 6:12.43 broke the American record by more than five seconds. He was also part of the second=place 4×100-medley relay. He finished the year ranked 11th in the 200-meter butterfly and 22nd in the 100-meter. He also entered the trials as the fourth seed in the 100-meter butterfly and qualified for the 100- and 200-meter freestyle. "It felt great, but there's still no celebrating for me," he said about the swim. He stayed near Phelps for 150 meters before fading on the last 50. Tarwater also swam a new personal best – 1:54.46 – but it was not good enough to make the Olympic team, missing out by six-tenths of a second. After the race, he briefly considered retiring before deciding to finish the meet. "I don't know what the future is going to bring, but I didn't want to go out knowing I didn't get back up," he said. He finished eighth in the 100-meter butterfly; earlier, he failed to make the finals in the freestyle events. After several "really tough conversions" with Banister, Tarwater decided to "[dedicate his] life to Christ and basically relinquished control."

Retirement and return to swimming At the 2009 National Championships, Tarwater qualified to represent the United States team in the World Championships for the third time in his career by placing sixth in the 200-meter freestyle. He also placed fourth in the 100-meter butterfly, and fifth in the 200-meter butterfly. In the preliminary round of the 4×200-meter freestyle, he helped the United States turn in the top qualifying time. The United States later won the event, earning Tarwater a gold medal. After the 2009 season, Tarwater decided to retire from competitive swimming and concentrate on his academic work at Oxford. Initially, he shifted his focus to the 200-meter freestyle, abandoning the butterfly for a while. He also joined with three other SwimMAC Carolina members to win the 4×100-meter medley relay. At the National Championships in August, Tarwater placed third in the 100-meter and 200-meter butterfly. The medley relay time of 3:37.70 set a new U.S. Open Record, more than six seconds ahead of the second-place team. Tarwater also placed eighth in the 100-meter freestyle during the meet. The record was previously held by Michael Phelps with a time of 1:52.26.

In the 200-meter butterfly semi-finals, Tarwater turned in the second-fastest time behind Bobby Bollier as Phelps conserved energy. In the finals the next day, Tarwater, knowing he was facing several strong finishers, decided to go out as hard as he could and try to build a big enough lead to hold on. Tarwater led the field for the first 100 meters. Phelps passed him in the third 50-meter stretch, but Tarwater held off the rest of the field until the final 25 meters when both Bollier and Tyler Clary surged ahead, dropping Tarwater to fourth.

The next morning Tarwater boarded a plane and headed home. Later that day, Phelps, facing the prospect of competing in eight events at the Olympics, elected to drop the 200-meter freestyle from his program. Tarwater said he was "shocked" by the news and called it a "storybook ending" to his career. "I was really content in walking away last night. I was in peace and left with my faith intact. To have this extra bout of joy is ... surreal", he said.

2012 Olympics By coincidence, Olympic team training took place in Tarwater's hometown of Knoxville. His time of 1:46.33 was a personal best, and the second-fastest leg for Team USA, which turned in the fastest preliminary swim, and third-fastest among all 64 swimmers. He attributed his performance to concentrating exclusively on the freestyle during the two months between Trials and the Games. He added, "I need a little bit of a vacation and I think during that time, I'll decide what's next for me and what's best for my career and my life."

Sponsorship and personal life Tarwater is sponsored by Speedo and Mutual of Omaha. Tarwater says his biggest mentor is his father, remarking, "He taught me how to be a man, but more importantly, how to be a champion." (D. Walters, M. McGinnis, M. Klueh, R. Berens 6:10.55) U.S. Open 4×100 m medley relay (with N. Toman, K. Swander and T. Phillips) 3:33.70 2011 Nationals Palo Alto, CA (Dan Madwed) Big Ten Conference 100 yd butterfly 46.44 2005 NCAA Championships Minneapolis, MN (Kyle Bubolz 46.40) Big Ten Conference 100 yd butterfly 46.16 2006 NCAA Championships Atlanta, GA (Kyle Bubolz 45.96) Big Ten Conference 4×200 yd freestyle with (P. Vanderkaay, T. DeBerry, and D. Ketchum) 6:20.78 2003 NCAA Championships Austin, TX (T. Clary, A. Schultz, S. Barba, D. Madwed 6:16.39)