David Harvey Dunford (born 29 September 1988) is a swimmer from

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

who specializes in sprint freestyle. He is an African champion,

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

finalist and the second Kenyan swimmer in history to qualify for the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

(the first was his older brother

Jason Dunford Jason Edward Dunford, OGW, OLY (born 28 November 1986), also known as Samaki Mkuu, is a Kenyan Olympic swimmer, media personality, rapper and entrepreneur. During his swimming career he was predominantly a butterfly and freestyle sprinter winni ...

Career

His first major senior competition was the 2005 World Championships in

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, but the young swimmer failed to advance heats. At the 2006 Short Course World Championships in

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he reached the 200 metres backstroke final, finishing 8th. At the 2006 Commonwealth Games, he participated in several races, his best result being reaching a final and finishing 7th at 50 metre freestyle. Later that year, at the 2006 African Swimming Championships he won the 100 metres and 200 metres backstroke, becoming the first Kenyan African Champion alongside his brother Jason. David Dunford was selected as the Most Promising Sportsman in Kenya in 2006. In 2007, he participated in the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

and All-Africa Games. He competed in the 2008 FINA Short Course World Championships in

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in April 2008 and reached the 50m and 100m freestyle semifinals, finishing 12th in both races. David Dunford competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. In the 50 metres freestyle race, he finished 20th overall in heats and missed the semifinals by only 0.12 seconds. He did not compete in the 2008 African Swimming Championships due to his studies. At the

2009 Summer Universiade The 2009 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXV Summer Universiade, was celebrated in Belgrade, Serbia from July 1 to 12, 2009. The event has also been organised by a range of co-host cities mostly in Vojvodina (Serbian Autonomous Provin ...

he reached the 50 metres freestyle final, finishing sixth. At the 2009 World Championships he reached the semifinals in the 50m freestyle. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he competed in the 50 and 100 metre freestyle.

Family life

Dunford is the son of Martin and Geraldine Dunford. Martin Dunford is the Chairman of the Tamarind Group, which owns the Carnivore Restaurant in Nairobi; Geraldine, granddaughter of Abraham Block, founder of Block Hotels, is the marketing executive. Martin is also the vice chairman of the Kenya Swimming Federation and the patron of the Nairobi Amateur Swimming Association (NASA). He has two brothers, Robert and Jason. Jason is also a swimmer and represents Kenya. After early childhood in Kenya, David Dunford went to Marlborough College, a secondary school in the United Kingdom, after which he attended Stanford University in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, where he studied Management Science and Engineering.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunford, David 1988 births Living people Kenyan people of British descent Kenyan male swimmers Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Olympic swimmers for Kenya Sportspeople from Nairobi Swimmers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Kenya White Kenyan people African Games gold medalists for Kenya African Games medalists in swimming African Games silver medalists for Kenya African Games bronze medalists for Kenya Competitors at the 2007 All-Africa Games Competitors at the 2011 All-Africa Games