Davies failed to win a 1500m World Championships medal for the first time

David Davies insists competing in four disciplines at the World Championships will ultimately benefit his gold medal bid at the 2012 London Olympics.

The Welsh swimmer qualified for three finals in Rome, breaking one British record, but failed to gain a podium place in his favoured 1500m freestyle.

Commonwealth champion Davies said: "I hope competing in all of the events will make me the complete package.

"And be the good swimmer that I want to be in London 2012."

Davies qualified for the 400m freestyle final, finishing last in a world record-breaking final won by German Paul Biedermann, before lowering the 800m national mark twice - eventually to seven minutes 44.32 seconds - in the final where the 24-year-old finished seventh.

The long-distance specialist - who won Olympic silver in the 10k open water event at last year's Beijing Games - also swam for Great Britain's 4x200m relay team in the heat before the team broke the British record in the final in Rome.

But Davies failed to win a World Championship medal in his favourite 1500m freestyle event for the first time since making his debut in 2005, because of his gruelling schedule at the Foro Italico.

The Barry swimmer finished sixth in Sunday's final in a time of 14 minutes 57.03 seconds, 20 seconds behind Tunisian winner Oussama Mellouli.

But Davies, the British 1500m record holder, insists his short-term heartbreak will be made up by long-term success in his specialist events at his 'home' Olympics in London.

"The way I had to look at the World Championships was that it was a big training week," said Davies.

"I had to get as much as experience as I could and test myself in all these new different disciplines.

"But come the Olympics I won't be doing all these different events, this is part of my development over the next three to four years leading up to the 2012 Games.

Come the Olympics I won't be doing all these different events, this is part of my development over the next three to four years leading up to the 2012 Games David Davies

"Nearer the time I'll be deciding to chose which event I want to compete in. I'll either do the 10k open water or the 1500m freestyle or, preferably, both.

"I was fatigued from my heavy programme at the World Championships but I don't regret doing it all as it was good to have a challenge.

"The 400m and 800m went well and the 4x200m relay team was good to be a part of.

"The 1500m was always going to be tough after a long and difficult week but I always knew that endurance racing is not my priority this year, it is about strength work in the gym and speed work in the pool.

"Last year I was doing about 80k a week in training but this year I'm only doing 60 to 65k a week. I've hit the gym hard and made a lot of sacrifices and my coach said after Beijing, 'Don't think about 2009 - just think about 2012'.

"Not winning a medal in Rome was hard to take but it will make me more motivated. I believe in the work that I've done and hopefully in 2012 I'll look back at this World Championships and have a laugh about it."

606: DEBATE David Davies is never going to get another medal in the 1500m freestyle, not with Mellouli, Cochrane and Yang sure to be around for quite some time budokan71

Mellouli was almost three seconds outside Grant Hackett's iconic 2001 world record mark.

Davies burst onto the 1500m scene at the 2004 Athens Olympics winning bronze in a Commonwealth record time.

He has toyed with the idea of specialising in the 10km open water for the 2012 Olympics in London if that offers him a better chance of a gold medal.

But he is still confident that he can become the world's best in his favoured discipline of 1500m.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version