Davis Tarwater
Davis Edward Tarwater is an American swimmer and Olympic gold medalist. He grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee and began competitive swimming at age seven. During high school, he set three state swimming records and led Webb School of Knoxville to the state title. In 2002, he was named High School Swimmer of the Year. Tarwater attended the University of Michigan, earning a bachelor's degree in political science, and St. Antony's College, Oxford earning a master's degree in Latin American Studies.
At Michigan, he shifted his focus from the freestyle to the butterfly. He was a three-time NCAA national champion and thirteen-time All-American. Tarwater set three Big Ten conference and six school records en route to six Big Ten titles. In his senior season, he was awarded the Big Ten Medal of Honor, recognizing his joint athletic and academic excellence throughout his college career.
Tarwater has represented the United States in the World Championships three times, winning a gold medal as part of the 4×200-meter freestyle relay team in 2009. He has won three individual and five relay national titles, and has finished in the top three more than fifteen times. In 2011, he set an American record in the 200-meter butterfly, and as of 2012 jointly holds two additional national records in relay events. He qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012. In 2004, 2008 and 2012, he narrowly missed making the Olympic team in the 200-meter butterfly. In 2012, he finished seventh in the 200-meter freestyle and missed qualifying for the U.S. 4×200-meter freestyle relay team by one spot. Michael Phelps elected to scratch the 200-meter freestyle from his Olympic schedule, however, allowing Tarwater to make the team. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Tarwater won a gold medal for his contributions in the preliminary heats of the 4×200-meter freestyle relay.
Early life
Tarwater was born March 24, 1984, to Dwight and Mary Tarwater in Knoxville, Tennessee. He grew up in Knoxville, where his father worked as a lawyer. He is the oldest of three children. His grandfather, Richmond Flowers, Sr., was Attorney General of Alabama from 1963 to 1967. Tarwater's uncle, Richmond Flowers, Jr., was a world champion at the 110-meter hurdles and a safety in the National Football League from 1969 to 1973.Tarwater had his first swimming lesson at age four. He was reluctant to put his face underwater at first, but after 15 minutes he was swimming freely. By age seven, he was entering swimming competitions. As a young child, he was diagnosed with epilepsy. The family's doctor encouraged Tarwater to keep swimming, and he eventually outgrew the condition. At age 10, he won the Knoxville City Meet title in the 25-yard butterfly for his age group. In 1993, Tarwater won the 10-year-old and younger 50-meter butterfly at the AAU Junior Olympic Games. As a congratulations, he got a personal letter from Olympic gold medalist Melvin Stewart. His father later said the got Davis really excited about swimming. The next year, Tarwater joined the Pilot Aquatic Club and began to compete on the national stage.
Tarwater played baseball and basketball, and ran track before deciding the concentrate on swimming during seventh grade. In 1999, he won both the 800- and 1500-meter freestyle events at the Junior Nationals, beating Michael Phelps in the latter. He qualified for his first U.S. Olympic Trials in 2000 at age 16. At the Trials, Tarwater finished 32nd in the 400-meter freestyle and 30th in the 1500-meter freestyle.
In 2001, Tarwater finished third at the Summer Nationals in the 1500-meter freestyle. He represented the United States at the 2001 Goodwill Games and was named "Athlete of the Year" by Southeastern Swimming Local Swimming Committee. The United States placed third at the Games, earning Tarwater a team bronze medal.
The following year, Tarwater led his high school – Webb School of Knoxville – to its first state swimming title before graduating in the spring. At the state finals, he broke the Tennessee 500-yard freestyle record by five seconds and also captured the 100-yard butterfly state record. At the U.S. Spring National Championships, Tarwater made the finals in four events. He placed third in the 200-meter butterfly, sixth in the 1500-meter freestyle, and eighth in both the 400- and the 800-meter freestyle events.
Tarwater was a nine-time high school All-American and was the 2002 High School Swimmer of the Year. In addition to the 100-yard butterfly and 500-yard freestyle, he also set the 200-yard freestyle state record during high school. After graduation, he was inducted into the school's hall of fame.
College career
Tarwater attended the University of Michigan from 2002 to 2006, where he earned a bachelor's degree in political science. During his first year, coach Jon Urbanchek began entering Tarwater in butterfly events. "I was a distance freestyler in high school, so... at first it was a difficult adjustment", Tarwater said of the move. "But it was what the team needed, and it let me contribute as a freshman." During the summer, he was selected to represent the United States at the 2003 Pan American Games where he placed sixth in the 400-meter freestyle.Urbanchek's decision and Tarwater's training started to pay dividends in 2004. That year, Tarwater set his first conference record by swimming the 200-yard butterfly in 1:43.46 en route to the Big Ten title. He was part of the university's 4×200-meter freestyle team that took first place at the NCAA Championships. The group's time of 7:01.42 set a new U.S. Open record. In individual events, Tarwater took fourth place in the 200-meter butterfly and eighth in the 100-meter butterfly.
Tarwater qualified for the 2004 U.S. Olympic Trials and finished fourth in the 200-meter butterfly, missing the Olympics by less than half a second. He also made the final in the 100-meter butterfly, finishing seventh.
Bob Bowman took over as head coach of Michigan for the 2004–05 season. He put Tarwater on a new training program, with a greater focus on speed training and less on distance. "We've also put him through weight training, and I think it's been improving his speed", Bowman said. "He has a very strong work ethic and always wants to improve. Instead of just getting in the pool and doing what we tell him to do, he actually thinks about it and asks questions. He wants to know the theory behind what he's doing." Tarwater won the 2005 NCAA championship in the 200-yard butterfly. His time of 1:42.30 was a Michigan and Big Ten record, and the third fastest time in NCAA history. In the 100-meter butterfly, he placed fourth.
In the spring, Tarwater won the US National Championship in the 200-meter butterfly with a time of 1:51.78, and placed fourth in the 100-meter butterfly. At Summer Nationals, Tarwater placed second in the 100-meter butterfly and was part of the National Championship winning 4×100-meter freestyle relay team. At the 2005 World Championships, he narrowly missed out on the medals, finishing fourth in the 200-meter butterfly. At the 2005 Duel in the Pool, Tarwater won the silver medal in both the 100-meter and 200-meter butterfly events. At the end of the season, he was ranked eighth in the world at the 200-meter butterfly and 20th at the 100-meter butterfly.
In 2006, Tarwater repeated as NCAA champion in the 200-yard butterfly, swimming the race in 1:41.84 and improving his own Big Ten record. He narrowly missed the NCAA record, coming up six-hundredths of a second short. He also finished fourth in the 100-yard butterfly, and was part of the second place 4×200-yard freestyle relay team. At the end of the season, the Detroit Athletic Club named Tarwater as the "Michigan Male College Athlete of the Year" for his combined achievements in sport, academics, and community service.
During his college career, Tarwater was a 13-time All-America selection. He was a first team All-Big Ten member all four years of college, and received Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2004, 2005, and 2006. In his 2006 senior year, he was awarded the Big Ten Medal of Honor, which recognizes one male and one female student from the graduating class of each Big Ten member school, for demonstrating joint athletic and academic excellence throughout their college career. He finished his college career with three Big Ten individual titles, three conference relay titles, and three conference records: the 100-yard butterfly, the 200-yard butterfly, and the 4×200-yard freestyle relay. He was part of three additional school records for relay performances.
Post-college swimming career
After graduation, Tarwater continued to train at the Michigan facilities with one goal in mind: qualifying for the 2008 Olympics. "I hadn't intended to swim professionally after college," he later said, "but I had continued to improve," and it "made sense" financially to continue swimming. In August 2006, he placed second in the 200-meter butterfly at the U.S. National Championships with a time of 1:57.00, qualifying him for the 2007 World Championships. He also teamed up with Klete Keller, Matthew Patton, and Alex Vanderkaay to win the 4×200-meter freestyle trophy, winning by more than six seconds. At the end of the season, Tarwater was ranked 13th in the world at the 200-meter butterfly and 34th at the 100-meter butterfly.At the World Championships in March 2007, Tarwater turned in the second-fastest time in the opening round of the 200-meter butterfly. In the semi-finals, he placed tenth, missing the finals by 0.11 seconds. Later in 2007, Tarwater won his second national championship in the 200-meter butterfly. He led the race from start to finish, beating Gil Stovall by 1.1 seconds. "It was a good race," he said. "I felt really in control. I felt a lot stronger and a lot better." At the same event, Tarwater joined Michael Phelps and two other Wolverine Aquatics teammates to win the 4×100-meter freestyle relay with a time of 3:17.96. Tarwater swam the team's second-fastest leg, behind Phelps. He also placed third in the 100-meter butterfly.
Tarwater won the 200-meter butterfly at the 2007 Duel in the Pool with a time of 1:57.12, and placed second in the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 52.76 at the same event. At the Short Course National Championships, Tarwater teamed up with Michael Phelps, Peter Vanderkaay, and Chris DeJong to capture the 4×200-yard freestyle relay title. The quartet's time of 6:12.43 broke the American record by more than five seconds. Tarwater captured the silver medal in 100-meter butterfly at the event, and won the 200-yard butterfly title with a time of 1:41.94. He was also part of the second=place 4×100-medley relay. He finished the year ranked 11th in the 200-meter butterfly and 22nd in the 100-meter.