Fit, healthy and training hard - David's going all out for gold (From Barry And District News)

Fit, healthy and training hard - David's going all out for gold

BARRY'S own Olympic star may have escaped Welsh winds for the glorious Australian climate, but this'll be no holiday for our lad David Davies!

For Commonwealth gold hopeful David will be enduring a strict training regime in preparation for the forthcoming games.

The former St Cyres pupil has entered into both the 1,500m and 400m freestyle events in March's Commonwealth Game in Melbourne.

And following his bronze medals at both the 2004 Olympics and 2005 World Championships, Davies is the favourite for his main event, the 1,500.

Australian Grant Hackett, David's biggest rival - who beat him in both Athens and Montreal - will not be competing due to injury.

The Melbourne event will be David's second attempt at the Commonwealth Games, having competed in Manchester in 2002.

Since then, he has dropped an amazing 30 seconds from his 1,500m time.

This has led to him claiming the British and European record at 14mins 45.9 seconds.

David said: "I'm really looking forward to the games. I'm training hard at the moment, and I'm fit and healthy.

"I've beaten my personal best in training, it's all about getting the best out of your training on the day."

The patriotic youngster, who turns 21 on March 3, said: "It is a great thing to be able to represent Wales once every four years. It'll be a very proud moment."