Davis Tarwater

Who is 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, where he shifted his focus from the freestyle to the butterfly. He was a three-time NCAA national champion and thirteen-time All-American. At Michigan, Tarwater set three Big Ten conference and six school records en route to six Big Ten titles. In his senior season, he won a Big Ten Medal of Honor for being the school's top student-athlete.

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 short course 200-meter butterfly, and as of 2012 jointly holds two additional national records in relay events. He qualified for the U.S.