David Walters (born September 27, 1987), also known as Dave Walters, is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, and world record-holder in the 4x200 meter freestyler relay. At the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

, Walters earned a gold medal by swimming in the heats of the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. As part of the American team, he also formerly held the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

in the 4×100-meter medley relay (long course). Walters is also a seven-time medalist (five gold, one silver, one bronze) at the

World Aquatics Championships The FINA World Championships or World Aquatics Championships are the World Championships for aquatics sports: swimming, diving, high diving, open water swimming, artistic swimming, and water polo. They are run by FINA, and all swimming events ...

Early years and education

Walters was born in

Newport News, Virginia Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

. He graduated from

Tabb High School Tabb High School is a public high school for located in Tabb, an unincorporated community in southern York County, Virginia, United States. It is part of the York County School Division. The school opened in 1972 and is located near the site ...

in Yorktown, Virginia, where he competed for the Tabb Tigers high school swim team. He received an athletic scholarship to attend the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

in Austin, Texas, where he swam for coach

Eddie Reese Edwin Charles Reese (born July 23, 1941) is an American college and Olympic swimming coach, and a former college swimmer. Reese serves as the head coach of the Texas Longhorns men's swimming and diving team that represents the University of Texa ...

Texas Longhorns swimming and diving The Texas Longhorns swimming and diving program represents The University of Texas at Austin in NCAA Division I intercollegiate men's and women's swimming and diving competition. The Longhorns currently compete in the Big 12 Conference. The fir ...

team in

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

(NCAA) and

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

competition from 2007 to 2010. He was a four-time Big 12 champion, a six-time All-American, and won the individual NCAA national championship in the 200-yard freestyle in 2008. At the conclusion of his 2009–10 senior year, the Longhorns won the NCAA national team championship.

International competition

2008 Summer Olympics

Walters swam the first leg of the 4×200meter freestyle relay preliminaries (in 1:46.57) with

Ricky Berens Richard "Ricky" Berens (born April 21, 1988) is an American former competition swimmer, two-time Olympic gold medalist, world champion, and current world record-holder. As a member of the U.S. national team, he holds the world record in the 4× ...

Erik Vendt Erik K. Vendt (born January 9, 1981) is an American former competition swimmer. He won a silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2004 Summer Olympics in the 400-meter individual medley. At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Vendt won a gold me ...

, and

Klete Keller Klete Derik Keller (born March 21, 1982) is an American convicted felon and former competitive swimmer. Before retiring from swimming in 2008, Keller won five Olympic medals, including two golds, at the 2000, 2004, and 2008 Summer Olympics in ...

. Their time of 7:04.66 broke the previous

Olympic record Olympic records are the best performances in a specific event in that event's history in either the Summer Olympic Games or the Winter Olympic Games, including: * Archery (list) * Alpine skiing (records recognized only by FIS) * Athletics (list) ...

of 7:07.05 set by Australia in 2000. In the final of the 4×200-meter freestyle relay,

Michael Phelps Michael Fred Phelps II (born June 30, 1985) is an American former competitive swimmer. He is the most successful and most decorated Olympian of all time with a total of 28 medals. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold me ...

Ryan Lochte Ryan Steven Lochte ( ; born August 3, 1984) is an American professional swimmer and 12-time Olympic medalist. Along with Natalie Coughlin, Dara Torres, and Jenny Thompson, he is the second-most decorated swimmer in Olympic history measured by to ...

, Berens and

Peter Vanderkaay Peter William Vanderkaay (born February 12, 1984) is an American former competition swimmer who specialized in middle-distance freestyle events and is a four-time Olympic medalist. He was a member of the United States Olympic team in 2004, 2008, ...

swam a combined time of 6:58.56, a new

2009 World Championships

At the 2009 National Championships, Walters competed in three events. In his first event, the 200-meter freestyle, Walters placed second to

with a time of 1:44.95. In the 100-meter freestyle, Walters placed second to

Nathan Adrian Nathan Ghar-jun Adrian (born December 7, 1988) is an American competitive swimmer and five-time Olympic gold medalist who formerly held the American record in the long course 50-meter freestyle event. In his Olympic debut at the 2008 Summer O ...

in a time of 48.17. In the 50-meter freestyle, Walters placed 15th in the heats with a time of 22.60. At the

2009 World Aquatics Championships The 2009 World Aquatics Championships ( it, Campionati mondiali di nuoto 2009) or the XIII FINA World Championships were held in Rome, Italy from 18 July to 2 August 2009. The 2009 Championships featured competition in all 5 aquatics disciplines ...

in Rome, Walters earned a gold medal as a member of the 4×200-meter freestyle relay. Walters, with Michael Phelps,

and

, swam a combined time of 6:58.55 to break the world record set last year in Beijing. In the 100-meter freestyle final, Walters placed 5th with a time of 47.33 to break Michael Phelps' American record of 47.51. Walters placed 12th overall in the 200-meter freestyle and did not advance to the final. In the 4×100-meter medley relay final, Walters, with

Aaron Peirsol Aaron Wells Peirsol (born July 23, 1983) is an American former competition swimmer and backstroke specialist who is a former world champion and world record-holder. He is a three-time Olympian and seven-time Olympic medalist (five gold, two si ...

, Michael Phelps, and

Eric Shanteau Eric Lee Shanteau (born October 1, 1983) is an American former competition swimmer who won two gold medals as a member of winning United States relay teams at the World Championships. He was a member of the 2008 and 2012 U.S. Olympic teams, and ...

, swam a combined time of 3:27.28 to break the world record set last year in Beijing.

Personal bests

. Key: NR = National record

References

External links

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Walters, David 1987 births Living people American male freestyle swimmers Olympic gold medalists for the United States in swimming Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Texas Longhorns men's swimmers World Aquatics Championships medalists in swimming World record holders in swimming Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Newport News, Virginia Tabb High School alumni