Josh Davis

Joshua Clark Davis (born September 1, 1972) is an American former competition swimmer who competed for the University of Texas, a three-time Olympic gold medalist, and a former world record-holder. He represented the United States at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics where he won three gold medals and at the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics where he won two silver.

Early swimming Davis was born September 1, 1972 in San Antonio, Texas. He did not begin competing in swimming meets until he was 12. While attending San Antonio's Winston Churchill High School, where he was trained and managed by Al Marks, Davis helped lead the Churchill Chargers to four successive Texas State team titles. He won individual championships in state competition in the 200-yard freestyle in 1988, 1989, and 1990. In age group club swimming, Davis competed and trained with the Alamo Area Aquatics Club, where he was a Texas Age Group Swimming (TAGS) champion in multiple meets. He swam as part of the 1989 4×100-yard freestyle relay team that established a new national public high school record, that held for over two decades.

University of Texas

He attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he swam for coach Eddie Reese and Associate Coach Kris Kubik's Texas Longhorns swimming and diving team in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) competition. While at the University of Texas, he captured 23 All-American awards, and helped lead Texas to the 1991 NCAA team championship. Davis won the 1993 NCAA individual 200-yard freestyle title and was a member of the American record setting and 1994 NCAA championship 400-yard freestyle relay.

At the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, he won gold medals by swimming for the winning U.S. teams in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay and 4×200-meter freestyle relay. He earned a third gold medal by swimming for the first-place U.S. team in the preliminary heats of the 4×100-meter medley relay. He also competed in the 200-meter freestyle, and finished seventh in the event final with a time of 1:48.54. At the 1996 Olympics Davis was the only male athlete in any sport to win three gold medals.

2000 Sydney Four years later at the 2000 Olympic trials, Davis broke Mat Biondi's 1988 record in the 200-meter freestyle. On February 13, 2009, cleanup crews found the medals outside one of the Salvation Army's Boys and Girls Clubs in San Antonio. The medals were returned to Davis at a news conference later that night.

Davis has worked as a motivational speaker and television sports commentator. On June 1, 2016, he was named as the first coach of Oklahoma Christian University's swimming programs, charged with building men's and women's teams for competition that began with the 2017-18 season. It was Davis' first collegiate coaching job.

Davis and his wife Shantel have six children and one grandchild.