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 COMMONWEALTH champion David Davies has qualified for the European Championships in Hungary in July after defending his 1500m freestyle title at the British Championships in Sheffield.
The Olympic and world bronze medallist from Cardiff recorded a time of 15:03.43 to book his place in Budapest.
"It's been nearly three weeks since my Commonwealth Games final and it's hard to carry that form through," said Davies. "It would have been nice to go under 15 minutes again, but that performance is pleasing for this stage of the season. I need to get home now and work towards Budapest."
The 21-year-old from Barry was by far the fastest qualifier for the final of the 1500m freestyle at the British Championships, 23 seconds ahead of his nearest challenger in his Sheffield heat, winning in 15:34.77.
Davies, who ended Wales' 32-year wait for Commonwealth Games swimming gold in Melbourne in March and also won bronze in the 400m freestyle.
Davies was a resounding favourite to win gold in Melbourne in the absence of Australian world record holder Grant Hackett and he responded in majestic fashion to claim an emphatic victory.
But that success - added to his Olympic and world bronzes - has elevated Davies into the major league and he has been staggered by the attention he has received since his triumphant return.
"I had more of a reception coming back home than I did from Athens," he said. "I won Wales' bachelor of the year - I jumped from No 41 to No 1. Catherine Zeta Jones, Charlotte Church - I haven't seen them at all but I am interested definitely.
"I was quite taken aback by the amount of interest I got. I am really proud of the fact it touched so many people. In Barry I struggle to walk down the street without being stopped. I went for a swim at my local pool just because I wanted a swim and I wanted to come down to earth.
"I went in and swam with the public and wondered if it would be a good idea but it was just mad. Everyone was trying to race me, everyone was jumping in, it was a kind of a weird experience."
Davies, who has learned his championship trade in Hackett's shadow, will have to wait until next year to get another crack at his Australian nemesis who is recovering from shoulder surgery. Hackett, already close to resuming his full training programme, will return to racing in the summer and should be in great shape for the Australian world championship trials in December.
So the pair should renew battle at the 2007 world championships back in Melbourne when the fervent home crowd will demand gold in their favourite event.
"It stings a little bit losing the 1500m freestyle," said Hackett, mindful that the last non-Australian winner at the Games was at Vancouver in 1954. But there comes a time and a place when you can't win everything forever. Things move in cycles and we've just got to be fortunate that we've had a 50-year winning cycle.
"I look forward to swimming against David again. He's got a real good attitude to competing against the other guys and with the event itself.
"I know he's going to be a big threat to me at the world championships and at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, titles which I've been able to be successful at in the past."
Whether Davies' Commonwealth breakthrough leads to a shift in the balance of power between these two great rivals is something that will be decided at the world championships, but already Davies is starting to enjoy the recognition that Hackett has become accustomed to in his native Australia, where the 26-year-old lives in a sprawling mansion on the Gold Coast.
In contrast 21-year-old Davies still lives at home with parents Paul and Sue at the detached family home on a smart Barry estate, but since he's become Wales' most eligible bachelor it's not a problem he's in any rush to sort out.
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