David Davies celebrates his silver at the Olympics' first open water event

David Davies says he withdrew from the 10k open water event at the swimming World Championships to concentrate on his favoured 1,500m freestyle event.

The 2006 Commonwealth Games champion missed out on a medal in the 1,500m at last year's Beijing Olympics but won silver in the new open water race.

He wants to concentrate on his 1,500m bid which is after the open water.

"Having not got a Olympic medal in the 1,500m last year I want to give the pool a really good go," said Davies.

Davies suffered Olympics medal heartache by finishing sixth at the 2008 Games but his Beijing cloud literally had a silver lining when he finished second behind Dutchman Maarten van der Weijden in the first Olympic open water race.

The 24-year-old's pool disappointment at the Olympics was the first time since the 2003 World Championship that Davies had not finished on the medal rostrum in his specialist 1,500m freestyle event at a major tournament.

He "tinkered" with his training routines and came back impressively to retain the freestyle crown at the British Championships in Sheffield after starting at a British race record pace, finishing below the top mark with a time of 14:52.41secs.

Davies agreed to double-up and compete in the open water at the Olympics because the new event was after the pool competition had finished and would not interrupt his 1,500m preparation.

At Beijing I realised the 1,500m event had moved on massively and I hadn't done the work necessary to keep up. I had fallen into a bit of a comfort zone. But it has turned out to be a blessing is disguise Olympic swimmer David Davies

But as the World Championship's men's open water in Rome this summer is before the 1,500m freestyle, Davies does not want anything to disrupt his goal in the pool.

"I'm pulling out of the open water in the World Championships this year to concentrate on the 1,500m," Davies confirmed.

"My swim at the British Championships in Sheffield went so well and that the open water is before the 1,500m at the worlds, I want to focus on my pool goals.

"It was a tough decision but after what happened in Beijing I really want to target the 1,500m and get back up there so I need to be fresh.

"If the 10k was after the 1,500m, not the other way around, I'd definitely do it but unfortunately the schedule doesn't favour me."

Davies finished almost 12 seconds behind Tunisia's Oussama Mellouli in the 1,500m freestyle final at the 2008 Olympics and that is when he felt he must get out of his "comfort zone."

The Barry swimmer has changed his training routine and has been working improving his on strength this year as part of his four-year program towards the 2012 Olympics in London.

"At Beijing I realised the 1,500m event had moved on massively, my rivals were a lot fitter, stronger and had great speed at the back end of the race, which was what I lacked," he said.

"I had fallen into a bit of a comfort zone as I swam so well in Athens in 2004 and maintained my place in the top three swimmers in the world so I kept doing the same thing and didn't feel the need for change.

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"But if you're doing the same thing over and over again you're effectively going backwards and that struck home when I touched the wall after the 1,500m final in Beijing.

"The event had moved on and I hadn't done the work necessary to keep up.

"The good thing is that I've responded in the right way, I knew I needed to change my preparations - and I have. I'm feeling the progress now when I race.

"The 1,500m in Beijing hurt but it has turned out to be a blessing is disguise as now I'm motivated to get back up there and be the best."

Davies has won back-to-back 1,500m bronze medalists at the World Championship in 2005 and 2007 and wants to continue his world medal haul in Rome when the World Championships begin on 17 July.

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