Davies Lowers His Own British Record

The Swimmer Breaks his 800m Freestyle Record Twice in Rome

Jul 31, 2009

David Davies has reduced his British record in the 800m Freestyle by six seconds over the course of the 13th FINA World Championships.

The Olympic silver medallist already held the British record going into the World Championships but took an impressive five seconds off his time in the heats on Tuesday. He then reduced it further the following day in the final.

Davies had previously taken a second off of his British record back in June at the Scottish Nationals where he qualified for his place in the British Gas World Championship squad.

Men’s 800m Freestyle Final

The men’s 800m Freestyle final saw China’s Lin Zhang knock an impressive six seconds off the world record. Davies started well but found himself turning in sixth place at the 100m mark. He powered through the next two lengths to move into fourth position but with Zhang and Tunisia’s Oussama Mellouli turning well within world record time at the 300m mark he had to up the pace to keep up.

At the halfway point Italy’s Federico Clbertaldo overtook the Brit and the two remained close for the remaining 400m. Zhang took gold in a new world record time of 7.32.12 followed by Mellouli in 7.35.27. Canada’s Ryan Cochrane took bronze in 7.41.92. The Italian touched in just ahead of Davies who took fifth place in a new British record time of 7.44.32.

Davies said: “I thought it would take something special but a six second British record is just unbelievable. I am really pleased with that time. It shows I am in good shape for the 1,500m. I found good rhythm and that gives me confidence for my event on Saturday.”

Men’s 800m Freestyle Heats

Davies found himself dominating the first half of his race in the heats but Clbertaldo began to close in on the Loughborough ITC swimmer in the final 400m. He powered through the final 100m to finish in fourth place for the final in a time of 7.45.89, five seconds faster than his previous British record time in Scotland.

Following in Davies’ footsteps, Hatfield swimming clubs Richard Charlesworth took nine seconds off his personal best in the heats after touching in a time of 8.00.50. The 20 year old ranked in 17th place overall therefore missing out on a spot in the final.

Davies’ Uncertainty in the 800m Freestyle

Davies normally specialises in the 1,500m Freestyle and was unsure if he would be taking part in the 800m Freestyle in these championships. After the Scottish Nationals he said: “The 800m event isn’t a certainty for me in Rome. I am going to sit down tonight and consider options. The dilemma is it isn’t an Olympic event and I don’t want it to impact those that are.”

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