After Steve Parry had gotten the monkey off British Swimming’s back with bronze in the 200m butterfly, the team had then gone through the rest of the meet to the final night with no further podium success. As the final night of finals loomed the unassuming David Davies was realistically Britain’s last hope
David Davies elevated himself to the highest echelons of 1500m swimming as he took a sensational Olympic bronze medal in the fastest race ever seen. The young Welshman set a new European Record and destroyed his own British record by almost 12 seconds, coming home in 14:45.95.
David Davies led the way as three British records were set in the heats on the penultimate day of competition in the Olympic pool. Davies’ 14:57.03 in the 1500m was the fastest ever heat swim and was swiftly followed by medley relay records for both the men’s and women’s squads