Ice-cool Dave scoops bronze (From Barry And District News)

Ice-cool Dave scoops bronze

BARRY swimmer David Davies claimed his place among Britain's sporting greats by taking bronze in the men's 1500m freestyle at the Athens Olympics.

The 19-year-old broke the European record and smashed his personal best by 11 seconds.

David, of Cudd-y-Coed, said: "Four years ago I never thought I would be in this position, so a bronze medal is fantastic.

"I am only 19 and hopefully there are more good things to come. I'm working hard and up here is where I want to be.

"When I normally race Grant he's miles ahead but we were catching him."

In a poolside interview, BBC presenter Sharron Davies asked David why he wasn't jumping about with excitement after becoming only the fourth man in history to swim 1500m under 14min 50secs.

"Chill out Sharron," he replied.

David pushed Australian swimming legend Grant Hackett all the way. Hackett, unbeaten at 1500m for seven years, had to produce an Olympic record-winning performance to take gold.

David is the first Welsh swimmer to win an Olympic medal since Martyn Woodroffe won silver in the 200m butterfly in 1968.

David was quick to pay tribute to his coach David Haller.

He said: "I've been with him since I was seven years old and we have a great relationship. We share a telepathic understanding."

David Haller also coached David Wilkie and Duncan Goodhew to Olympic glory.

Haller said: "He's still got a lot of developing to do. He's certainly not a finished product. By the Commonwealth Games in 2006, he will be formidable and by Beijing, he'll be the real deal.

"He's a born racer and he's not afraid to go up against the big guns. He's shown real promise for the future and the challenge now is to look at how we close that gap with Hackett."