Western’s phenomenal swim and dive program is widely recognized as one of the best in Virginia, as well as for the exemplary individual athletes it has produced. Senior David King, with his recent VHSL Class 3 Swimmer of the Year award, as well as his numerous broken records, has joined the ranks of elite Western swimmers. He has been swimming since age 5, and specializes in freestyle and backstroke. The Western Hemisphere sat down with King to learn more about his achievements.
King is new this year to Western after transferring from Albemarle, and prefers Western because “[he] likes the teachers and the people better here.” In addition to the WAHS team, he swims for a club team, Cavalier Aquatics. Club is rigorous and year-round, with only “one or two two-week breaks.” King’s favorite aspect of swimming is that “it’s very effort-based and you get out of it what you put into it, so in order to improve, you have to give 110%, you can’t just get lucky.”
King’s longtime teammate, junior Thomas Heilman, commented on his recent accomplishments. He and King have swum together for six years, practicing and competing alongside each other at Cavalier Aquatics. At junior nationals, King placed third nationwide. Heilman admires King’s determination and has seen “over the last couple years how his hard work has paid off and [he’s] become one of the best [high school] swimmers in the country.”
This spring, King hopes to qualify for Olympic trials, which he missed by six hundredths of a second last year. He has committed to the University of Virginia for next year, due to its proximity to home and “blend of a really good swim team with high level academics.” King looks forward to continuing his swim career in college, and hopes to keep setting records for years to come.
