COMMONWEALTH Games distance champion David Davies is expected to be fit for next year’s world swimming championships in Melbourne despite pulling out of the European championships because of injury.

The Briton, favourite to win the 1500m freestyle title next month in Budapest, was forced to withdraw from the meet after an injury-affected build up.

The Olympic bronze medal winner and this year’s 1500m Commonwealth champion recently underwent an operation to remove an abscess from his left ankle, which kept the 21-year-old out of the pool for six weeks.

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Australian swimming legend Grant Hackett returned from nine months out with a shoulder injury with a message for Welsh rival David Davies.

Hackett, unbeaten at 1500m freestyle in 10 years, was taken close by Davies and American Larsen Jensen when he claimed Olympic gold in Athens in 2004.

“I always expected them to improve but not to 14min 45sec, I think anything is possible for Beijing 2008,” he said.
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MELBOURNE (Reuters) - David Davies gave Wales its first Commonwealth Games swimming gold for 32 years on Tuesday, destroying a proud Australian record for good measure.

Davies’s comfortable victory in the men’s 1,500 metres freestyle ended Australia’s 48-year stranglehold on swimming’s ‘iron man’ event on the final night of competition.

“I was proud out there — I was almost crying,” said Davies, who stormed to the gold in 14 minutes 57.63 seconds in the absence of Australia’s Olympic champion Grant Hackett.

“It’s the first major medal I’ve won and I’m going to remember it for the rest of my life.”

Davies was third behind Hackett at the 2004 Olympics and at last year’s world championship, and was installed as the odds-on favourite when the Australian pulled out after shoulder surgery.

He became the first non-Australian to win the gold since 1954 and the first swimmer from Wales to win a Commonwealth title since Patricia Beavan’s 200 metres breaststroke gold in 1974.

“It’s a massive weight off my shoulders,” said Davies. “Since Grant Hackett’s withdrawal I’ve been expected to win. It’s a new experience for me.

DIFFERENT ANIMAL

“I’m still not that same type of animal as Grant Hackett or even Kieren Perkins. They can go out fast and attack but it takes a lot out of me.”

Wrapped in a Welsh flag, Davies celebrated his start-to-finish victory by jumping into the Welsh enclosure to hug coaches, family and team mates.

“I swam out on my own. It was pretty hard,” said the 21-year-old, who touched almost 12 seconds before runner-up Andrew Hurd of Canada.

“One of the boys said to me, ‘If I go down to the bookies and put 1,000 dollars on and you don’t come through I’ll only get 20 back’, so there was a lot of pressure.”

Davies’s time was well outside his personal best and more than 23 seconds outside Hackett’s world record of 14:34.56.

“Now I know what it’s like to go out there and do it,” he said. “I’ll take it on again when all the big guys are back for the (2008 Beijing) Olympics and (2007) world championships.”

Hackett withdrawal saddens Davies

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The withdrawal of Olympic and world 1500m freestyle champion Grant Hackett from the Commonwealth Games has left Wales’ David Davies favourite for gold.

But the 20-year-old Welshman insists he is unhappy at the shoulder injury suffered by his great rival.

“I’m disappointed because at a major meet you want your biggest rivals there to help make sure you put in your very best performance,” said Davies.

“It’s a real blow to lose someone of such high calibre as Grant.”

Barry swimmer Davies, currently training in Lanzarote with the Welsh squad, has been beaten into third place at the last Olympics and World Championship by Hackett and American Larsen Jensen.

That trio have been a street ahead of their rivals in the event, with Hackett the peerless king having gone eight years unbeaten.

As Hackett is now out of the Melbourne games - and Jensen ineligible thanks to a certain Boston beverage party back in 1773 - many will see Davies as a shoe-in for the gold medal.

But the City of Cardiff man has refused to get carried away with the hype.

“There are still a lot of great swimmers around and it’s going to be a tough job to go to Melbourne and swim well,” said Davies

“Personally I’m gutted for Grant. We get on well and it will be a real shame that he won’t be there.”

DAVIES HAS GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY

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Olympic bronze medallist David Davies insists he is disappointed at Grant Hackett’s withdrawal from next year’s Commonwealth Games.

Hackett, the Olympic and World 1,500m freestyle champion, has been forced to pull out of the Melbourne Games in March due to a shoulder injury.

That boosts Davies’ chances of winning gold but the 20-year-old Welshman stressed: “I’m obviously disappointed because when you are at a major meet you want your biggest rivals to be there to help make sure you put in your very best performance.

“It’s a real blow to lose any swimmer but to lose someone of such high calibre as Grant is a massive loss.

“Personally I’m gutted for him. We get on well and it will be a real shame that he won’t be there.

“There are still a lot of great swimmers around and it’s going to be a tough job to go there and swim well.”

Davies now the man to beat

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FIRST the Ashes were lost, now a Commonwealth Games 1500m swimming gold medal looks certain to find itself on British shores.

Grant Hackett, the world record holder, four-time world champion and two-time Olympic champion in the 1500m freestyle, undergoes minor shoulder surgery in Melbourne this afternoon and will miss March’s Commonwealth Games.

This opens the door for Britain’s Athens Olympic bronze medallist, David Davies, who again finished third behind Hackett at this year’s Montreal world championships.

Davies, from Cardiff, is the world No.3 on the FINA rankings, after his 14min 48.11sec swim in Montreal that put him behind Hackett and American Lars Jensen.

He will swim for Wales at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games and could become his country’s first freestyle gold medallist in 75 years.

Wales has won three Commonwealth golds in swimming in backstroke and breaststroke - the last to Patricia Beavan in 1974.

Hackett, who has not been beaten internationally over the gruelling 30-lap race since taking gold at the 2001 Pan Pacs in Fukuoka, anointed Davies as the man to beat in his absence.

“If he swims around the times he’s been doing for the last couple of seasons, I think he will be pretty well unbeatable,” Hackett said yesterday, after announcing he faces one or two months out of the water because of a suspected minor tear in a tendon in his right shoulder.

On the Australia front, it means a medal chance for Hackett’s training partner Kurtis MacGillivary, ranked No.7 in the world.

The arthroscopic surgery today will pinpoint the exact damage and how long Hackett will have out of the water.

He has swum with the pain since the 2004 Athens Olympics and managed it throughout Montreal 11 months later, where he became the first swimmer to take the 400m, 800m, and 1500m golds at the same world championships.

His 1500m win was a record fourth consecutive world title for the event.

He has the Olympic 1500m golds from Sydney and Athens. In Beijing he could become the first man to win the same individual event at three successive Games. (Two women have done it: Australia’s Dawn Fraser in the 100m freestyle and Hungary’s Krisztina Egerszegi in the 200m backstroke).

It is the desire to have longevity in the sport and the lure of the 2007 World Championships and the 2008 Olympics that have prompted Hackett to fix the problem now and bypass the Commonwealth Games and the 2006 Pan Pacific Games in Vancouver in August. The selection trials for both will be held in January.

“It’s very hard to sacrifice a meet, especially when it’s in your own country and I love competing in the Commonwealth Games,” Hackett said.

He won the 1500m golds at Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and Manchester in 2002.

“But, at the end of the day, you’ve got to look at what’s best for your future career and I’m 100 per cent confident I’ll come back stronger and faster because this will help me exceed my best times.”

Hackett is convinced watching the 1500m final in Melbourne in four months time will make him even more hungry.

“I’ll be watching it to use it as motivation. It’s part of any athlete’s career, an adverse situation, and you can improve yourself or you can feel sorry for yourself and I don’t feel sorry for myself,” he said.

But he is concerned the captaincy of the Australia swim team he was handed last season might be taken away from him.

But Swimming Australia executive director Glenn Tasker laid that to rest.

Tasker said “an interim captain” would be appointed for the Commonwealth Games and Pan Pacs.

Davies ready for the hard yards

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World Championship and Olympic bronze medallist David Davies has vowed to improve before the Commonwealth Games.

The 20-year-old from Barry was beaten into 1500m freestyle third at the major championships by Australian great Grant Hackett and American Larsen Jensen.

But the man popularly christened ‘Dai Splash’ by his Welsh fans has a plan in place ahead of Melbourne 2006.

“I’ll recuperate now, but then it’s an intense training routine. I can develop strength, speed and power,” he said.

“I’ll be putting in 50-55 miles a week, training intensely for 27 hours, to get me into the right shape.

“It’s a hard slog, especially on the dark winter mornings, but if I don’t do it I know I’ll miss out.”

The City of Cardiff man was pleased with his performance in the World Championships in Montreal last month to prove that his Olympic medal was no fluke.

“It’s always harder to do something again and I was delighted to re-establish myself,” Davies told BBC Sport Wales.

“The final went well and I swam as my coach asked, but unfortunately I couldn’t quite get the silver.

“Now the aim is to get the preparation right for Melbourne and move on.”

He acknowledges that his intense rivalry with Jensen and Hackett will fuel him through the long months of training.

“It’s a hectic battle that keeps everyone on their toes,” said the Welshman.

“We’re helping each other to improve, but hopefully next time I can get the better end of it.”

If Jensen is firmly in his sights, Davies acknowledges that at the moment Hackett - undefeated in the event for eight years - is a class apart.

“Hackett is a world-class athlete who I have a lot of respect for,” enthused Davies. “It’s a big ask to challenge him.

“He was five seconds ahead of me in Montreal, but that’s not bad in a 15-minute race.

“It can be made up and I’ll chip away at him, but the trouble is he’ll be trying to improve as well.”

If targeting Hackett is one of the hardest jobs in sport, Davies has a dream in mind to keep himself motivated.

“Getting a gold medal swimming for Wales and beating Hackett in front of his home Australian crowd - that would be the ultimate for me,” mused the youngster.

He may just have the talent and commitment to make his dream a reality.

Davies goes close to silver

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WELSHMAN David Davies claimed Britain’s third medal at the World Championships in Montreal last night as he battled back to win bronze in the 1,500m freestyle.

At the 500m mark, Davies looked dead and buried back in fourth position. However, the European record holder, who is one of only 15 men to ever go below 15 minutes in the 1,500m, refused to miss out on a podium finish.

Davies finished nearly a second clear in qualifying with a time of 14mins 59.33secs to set up a rerun of the 2004 Olympic final against Australian Grant Hackett and American Larsen Jensen.

Davies finished in bronze-medal position behind the pair in Athens and failed to reverse his form with Jensen.

Having broken down Russian Yuri Prilukov, Davies reeled in American Jensen and looked to have sealed a silver medal.

However, in the final 50m Jensen battled back and out-sprinted the Welshman to pip Davies for the second podium position.

From the off Hackett, who became the first man to win four consecutive World Championship gold medals in the 1,500m, looked to have the race in the bag.

The Australian, who has already won two golds in Montreal, became the first swimmer in World Championship history to win 16 medals.

Hackett recorded a time of 14:42.58, with Jensen 5.00secs back in silver medal position, with Davies winning the bronze in 14:48.11.

In qualifying, the Welshman - who finished sixth in the 800m freestyle behind Hackett earlier in the week - was over 13 seconds shy of the European record he set in Athens but the Cardiff swimmer led a star-studded field to qualify in pole position for the final, finishing nearly a second clear to set up a re-run of the 2004 Olympic final against Hackett and Jensen.

Liam Tancock went a long way to repairing the shattered confidence of the British team as he also claimed a bronze medal in the 50m backstroke.

It had been seven days since Caitlin McClatchey claimed Britain’s only other medal on the first day of the championships.

Tancock, who broke the first British record of the championships as he finished second in his 50m backstroke semi-final in 25.22secs, recorded a new British record of 25.02secs, which was 0.07secs off the gold.

The 20-year-old, who was the second fastest qualifier, finished behind Greek gold medallist Aristeidis Grigoriadis, who recorded a time of 24.95secs.

Australian Matt Welsh finished 0.04secs back in the silver medal position, with Tancock claiming the final podium finish.

The world record holder and reigning champion, Germany’s Thomas Rupprath, finished a disappointing sixth, with American Aaron Piersol back in fifth.

Tancock, who is a tropical fish enthusiast, said, “It’s pretty awesome for my first World Championships.

“I have got my British record and I keep lowering the bar. I want to be under the 25secs mark soon.

“I was not fazed or scared at all. I respect my rivals - all the big boys were there and hopefully I have put down my mark on world swimming.

“I always aim to go up the ranks. The hundred is my next aim and I am sure I will be there soon - this medal is pretty high next to my tropical fish tank.”

Britain’s Kate Haywood was left empty handed as Australia’s Jade Edmistone smashed the world record in the final of the women’s 50m breaststrok.

Haywood qualified fifth fastest for the final after her semi-final swim of 31.41secs, but failed to live up to her billing as a potential medal hope.

She finished a disappointing sixth in 31.49secs, 1.04secs off Edmistone’s new world record of 30.45secs.

Former world record holder Zoe Baker, who competed for Great Britain before defecting to represent New Zealand, trailed home in fifth.

America’s Jessica Hardy won the silver medal in 30.85secs, while Australian Brooke Hanson won the bronze.

“My goal was just to make the final,” said Haywood. “I am a slow starter and I have got to work on that. Zoe Baker had a great start and Jade Edmistone finished well.”

Hackett bested in 1,500m qualifying

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Britain’s David Davies upstaged Australia’s long distance king Grant Hackett to set the fastest qualifying time ahead of Monday morning’s (AEST) men’s 1,500 metres final at the World Swimming Championships in Montreal.

Davies was the only swimmer to dip under the 15-minute barrier when he won his morning heat in 14 minutes 59.33 seconds.

Hackett, who is chasing his fourth successive world title in the longest event on the swimming program, was second fastest in 15:00.18, more than 25 seconds outside the world record he set at the 2001 world championships in Japan.

“I felt really good out there,” Welshman Davies said. “I didn’t want to take too much out of myself because I wanted to save something for tomorrow’s final.”

Russia’s Yuri Prilukov, second to Hackett in last Sunday’s 400m freestyle final, was third in 15:01.03 while American Larsen Jensen was fifth in 15:07.58 after finishing runner-up to Hackett in the 800m earlier this week.

“It was not as fast as I wanted to go but I’m still happy with the swim,” Hackett said.

“It is the best time I’ve done this season and it is the easiest I’ve felt so that combination is awesome.”

Australians topped the qualifying in the heats of all three women’s events on the penultimate day of the championships.

Alice Mills thrashed her way down the Montreal pool to post the fastest time in the 50m freestyle sprint at 25.15, just 0.04 ahead of Sweden’s Therese Alshammar. China’s Zhu Yingwen was third in 25.22 as the top 11 qualifiers were separated by just half a second.

Jade Edmistone led an Australian one-two in the 50m breast stroke. She finished top in a time of 30.79 while her team mate Brooke Hanson was second in 30.99.

American teenager Jessica Hardy was third in 31.13 after breaking the 100m breast stroke world record earlier in the week while the 50m world record holder Zoe Baker was fourth in 31.30.

Hanson was back in the pool two hours later to help Australia set the best qualifying time of 4:03.62 for the medley relay although Leisel Jones will swim the final.

The US were second in 4:04.43 with Germany third in 4:05.50.

World record holder Thomas Rupprath was the fastest qualifier in the men’s 50m backstroke heats, stopping the clock at 25.44, just 0.02 ahead of Britain’s Liam Tancock.

American Aaron Peirsol was seventh overall in 25.77 after winning the 100m earlier in the week then breaking his 200m world record yesterday.

Sports Round-up: Davies beats Hackett to set up Olympic rematch

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BRITAIN’S David Davies upstaged Australia’s long-distance king Grant Hackett to set the fastest qualifying time in the men’s 1500m at the world swimming championship in Montreal.

Davies was the only swimmer under 15 minutes when he won his morning heat in 14min 59.33sec to set up a re-run of the 2004 Olympic final against Hackett and American Larsen Jensen.

‘I felt really good out there,’ said the Welshman, who finished in bronze position behind the two in Athens. ‘I didn’t want to take too much out of myself.’

Hackett, who is chasing his fourth successive world title at 1500m, was second fastest in 15:00.18.

Fellow Britain Liam Tancock was the second-fastest qualifier in the men’s 50m backstroke, finishing just 0.02sec behind world record-holder Thomas Rupprath, of Germany. Meanwhile, Aaron Peirsol and Leisel Jones set world records to win their second gold medals at the championship, while Michael Phelps collected his fourth courtesy of another American relay victory.

American Peirsol lowered his own 200m backstroke record, touching in 1min 54.66sec to better the mark of 1min 54.74sec he set at last year’s US Olympic trials. Setting the sixth world record of the championships, Australian Jones won the women’s 200m breaststroke in 2min 21.72sec.