DAVIES LOOKS TO 2007 AFTER INFECTION SETBACK
Olympic, World and Commonwealth medallist David Davies has
been forced out of this month's European Championships after
struggling to recover from a foot infection and subsequent
surgery.
The 21-year-old distance freestyler will be forced to watch
the 1500m Freestyle from a distance after missing too much
training since undergoing the operation to his foot at the
beginning of May.
The City of Cardiff swimmer was consigned to minimal dry
land training for seven weeks before his foot healed enough
for him to return to the water.
And with just a month's preparation behind him both Davies
and Coach Dave Haller made the difficult decision to withdraw
from the Europeans in Budapest.
"It's a real blow because swimming for me is all about
competing against the best swimmers in the world at the major
international meets," explained Davies.
"The Europeans (50m) is the only meet I've never competed
in and it's a medal I desperately want in order to complete
the set alongside my Olympic, World and Commonwealth medals.
"I love racing and I just know it's going to be a fast
meet. It's going to be hard for me watching at home in Wales
but I'm confident the British team is going to do well. Not
being a part of that will hurt though."
Davies' condition first became apparent following the Commonwealth
Games, where he was crowned 1500m champion, but disappointment
over his winning time and subsequent problems with his foot
saw him seek medical attention.
He's remained upbeat throughout his ordeal and now believes
the enforced break could well be of real benefit to future
performance.
"A priority for me has been to remain positive throughout,"
he said. "I know that it could have been much worse.
If it was two years down the line, just before the Beijing
Olympics, it would be an absolute disaster.
"I'm sure the break from swimming will see me come back
stronger and with more fire in my belly. I'll need that over
the next two years as they are going to be massive for me."
Davies is now looking to the World Championships next March
in Melbourne and has until the end of this year to post a
time that will qualify him for the competition.
However, he is taking his rehabilitation slowly to properly
prepare for the volume and quality of training needed to return
him to the top of his discipline while avoiding injury on
the way.
"Seven weeks out of the water is a long time and I've
been careful to gradually get back into training. It's going
to take a while but I've gone about things the right way,"
said Davies.
"I've just returned from two weeks in Malta where I
took small steps to increase my training and I'm now back
up to around 90% of what I would normally do over the course
of a week. It won't be long now until I'm back in full training.
"My first aim is to get my fitness back and I think
that's going to take a couple of months to achieve. My season
will start properly in September and I'll be focusing on achieving
qualification for next year's World Championships."
It will be the first time since 2001 that Davies hasn't made
an international team and, whereas he's disappointed at not
being involved with the team in Budapest, he is looking forward
to seeing his team mates in action.
"It's a massive squad that shows there is real talent
coming through the system and highlights the fact there's
real depth to British Swimming.
"There will be a lot of youngsters competing for their
first international final and we're going to be in the hunt
for medals to show we're one of the top swimming nations in
Europe."
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