Regular Columns in Welsh Press

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Davies) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 14:56:00 +0000

Earlier this summer I was Delighted to be asked by the South Wales Echo to become a regular columnist. I enjoy writing and having the opportunity to contribute to one of Wales' biggest papers is a privilege. My column appears every other Thursday and I write about topical sporting subjects, from Cardiff City to rugby and my own personal training and events. You can check out some of my columns in the media section of the site.

World Championship Trials Review

noreply@blogger.com (Dave Davies) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 15:32:00 +0000

Following the Beijing Olympics I took my longest break ever from the pool to fully recharge myself, both physically and mentally. During this time I discussed my performances in Beijing with my coach, Kevin Renshaw, with the aim to improve them over the next 4 years into London.

We both felt that if I was to be competitive in the 1500m Freestyle in the pool, then I had to gain more speed for the start of the race and therefore needed to be stronger.

Upon my return to the pool the focus in training from October through to the recent British Championships/World Championship Trials in March was all about getting stronger and hopefully quicker in the 200m and 400m Freestyle. This training entailed a considerable increase in all land based training, including weights, circuit gym work and running.

Going into the World Trials I felt I was capable of swimming around 3.45-3.46 in the 400m Freestyle. My best time going into the meet was 3.49.30 from the Olympic Trials in 2008, so I was confident I could do a huge best time given my new found strength.

The 400m Freestyle was day 1 at the trials and after a good heat swim I swam 3.45.24 in the final. Not only was this a huge best time, but also a British Record- some 2 seconds inside the previous mark. This now makes me competitive in the 400m compared to the rest of my 1500m contemporaries, which was my aim back in September.

At the Trials I also competed in the 200m, a fun event for me, and 1500m Freestyle. In both the heats and semi final I smashed the Welsh Record with times of 1.48.11 and 1.47.31 respectively. In the final I placed 3rd, in a slightly slower time of 1.47.50. This now puts me in contention for the World Championship 4x200 Freestyle squad.

Usually an Olympic Games or World championship is spread over 8 days, however the British Championships was a condensed programme only being over 5 days. Therefore I was still fatigued going in to the final of the 1500m on day 5. Given the number of races I had swam in 5 days I was very happy to swim a time of 14.52.41 in the final.

I viewed my week in Sheffield as a great success, given I have now qualified for the 400m 1500m and potentially 4x200m Freestyle for the World Championships in Rome. It also vindicated Kevin and my decision to concentrate on speed based activities for the previous 6 months.

The plan between now and Rome in late July will be to increase my yardage in the pool again in the hope I can add some additional aerobic conditioning to the recent strength I’ve gained.