Victor Davis

Victor Davis

Personal information
Full name	Victor Davis
National team	Canada
Born	(1964-02-10)February 10, 1964 Guelph, Ontario
Died	November 13, 1989(1989-11-13) (aged 25) Montreal, Quebec
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	87 kg (192 lb)
Sport
Sport	Swimming
Strokes	Breaststroke, butterfly, individual medley
Club	Region of Waterloo Swim Club, Pointe-Claire Swim Club
Medal record Men's swimming Representing Canada Olympic Games 1984 Los Angeles 200 m breaststroke 1984 Los Angeles 100 m breaststroke 1984 Los Angeles 4×100 m medley 1988 Seoul 4×100 m medley World Championships (LC) 1982 Guayaquil 200 m breaststroke 1986 Madrid 100 m breaststroke 1982 Guayaquil 100 m breaststroke 1986 Madrid 200 m breaststroke Pan Pacific Championships 1987 Brisbane 100 m breaststroke 1987 Brisbane 200 m breaststroke Commonwealth Games 1982 Brisbane 200 m breaststroke 1986 Edinburgh 100 m breaststroke 1986 Edinburgh 4×100 m medley 1982 Brisbane 100 m breaststroke 1986 Edinburgh 200 m breaststroke

Victor Davis, CM (February 10, 1964 – November 13, 1989) was a Canadian Olympic and world champion swimmer who specialized in the breaststroke. He also enjoyed success in the individual medley and the butterfly.

Biography

Victor Davis was born in Guelph, Ontario. As a boy, Davis learned how to swim in the lakes around his home. He then joined the Guelph Marlin Aquatic Club at the age of 12.

During his career, Davis held several world records as the winner of 31 national titles and 16 medals in international competition. At the 1982 world championships in Guayaquil, Ecuador, he set his first world record while winning the gold medal in the 200-metre breaststroke.

At the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, he won a silver medal in the 100-meter breaststroke event, then captured the gold medal in the 200-metre breaststroke, in the process establishing another world record. In recognition of his accomplishments, Davis was named Swimming Canada's Athlete of the Year three times and the Canadian government made him a Member of the Order of Canada.^[1]

A star of Canada's national swim team for nine years, he retired from competitive swimming in July 1989. He was voted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1985, Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1990, and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 1994.^[2]

Only a few months after his retirement, on November 11, 1989 while outside a nightclub in the Montreal suburb of Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Davis was struck by a car whose driver fled the scene. It was later determined that, due to an earlier verbal altercation with the driver, Davis had walked to the middle of the road and was brandishing a juice bottle toward the car at the time at which he was struck.^[3] Two days later, the 25-year-old died of his injuries in hospital. In February 1992, Glen Crossley was found guilty of leaving the scene of an accident and sentenced to ten months in prison, ultimately serving four months.^[4]

Legacy

Davis's parents fulfilled his express wish that his organs be donated to help save the lives of others. The swimmer's heart, liver, kidneys and two cornea were transplanted.

Each year since his death, awards are made by the Victor Davis Memorial Fund to help young Canadian swimmers continue their education while training in pursuit of excellence at the international level of competition. To date, more than 86 athletes have benefited from this award, and many of them have gone on to have successful swimming careers. Thirteen recipients of this award participated in the 2008 Summer Olympics.^[5] In 2002, Victor Davis was inducted into the Ontario Sports Hall of Fame.^[6]

Film

Davis's life, death and legacy was remembered in Victor, a two-hour biographical drama film that was written by the Canadian former swimmer Mark Lutz, who also appeared in the title role.

Career highlights

1982 World Aquatics Championships – Guayaquil, Ecuador

• Gold medal – 200 m breaststroke (world record 2:14.77, breaking the old record of 2:15.11 set by David Wilkie in 1976)
• Silver medal – 100 m breaststroke

1982 Commonwealth Games – Brisbane, Australia

• Gold medal – 200 m Breaststroke
• Silver medal – 100 m Breaststroke

1984 Canadian Olympic Trials – Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada

• Won the 200 m breaststroke (broke his own world record with a time of 2:14.58, bettering his 1982 time)

1984 Summer Olympics – Los Angeles, United States

• Gold medal – 200 m breaststroke (established world record at 2:13.34, lowering his own 1984 record time)
• Silver medal – 100 m breaststroke
• Silver medal – 4 × 100 m medley relay

1986 Commonwealth Games – Edinburgh, Scotland

• Gold medal – 4 × 100 m medley relay
• Gold medal – 100 m breaststroke
• Silver medal – 200 m breaststroke

1986 World Aquatics Championships – Madrid, Spain

• Gold medal – 100 m breaststroke
• Silver medal – 200 m breaststroke

1988 Summer Olympics – Seoul, South Korea

• Silver medal – 4 × 100 m medley relay (1.00.90 split)
• Fourth place – 100 m breaststroke (1.02.38)

Canadian National Championships (including separate trials meets)

• 17-time national champion, 100 m breaststroke
• 14-time national champion, 200 m breaststroke
• 2-time national champion, 200 m butterfly
• 2-time national champion, 200 m individual medley
• 1 national championship, 400 m individual medley

See also

• List of Commonwealth Games medallists in swimming (men)
• List of Olympic medalists in swimming (men)
• World record progression 200 metres breaststroke

References

External links

• Official Victor Davis Movie Site
• See Dave Stubbs review of the making of the movie here.
• Victor (a film about Victor Davis) at the Internet Movie Database
• Swimnews Magazine in 2000 ran a retrospective on Davis, see pages 6 – 7..
• Victor Davis Memorial Fund page – part of Guelph Marlin Aquatic Club website
• Victor Davis Memorial Fund Page - Swimming Canada
• CBC (TV) Archives looking back at the 1984 LA Olympics
• Canadian Sports Hall of Fame profile of Victor Davis