David Harvey Dunford (born 29 September 1988) is a

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

from

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

who specializes in sprint freestyle. He is an African champion,

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

finalist and the second Kenyan swimmer in history to qualify for the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

(the first was his older brother

Jason Dunford Jason Edward Dunford, OGW, OLY (born 28 November 1986), also known as Samaki Mkuu, is a Kenyan Olympic swimmer, media personality, rapper and entrepreneur. During his swimming career he was predominantly a butterfly and freestyle sprinter winni ...

Career

His first major senior competition was the 2005 World Championships in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, but the young swimmer failed to advance heats. At the 2006 Short Course World Championships in

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

he reached the 200 metres backstroke final, finishing 8th. At the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

, he participated in several races, his best result being reaching a final and finishing 7th at 50 metre freestyle. Later that year, at the

2006 African Swimming Championships The 8th African Swimming Championships were held in Dakar, Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal ...

he won the 100 metres and 200 metres backstroke, becoming the first Kenyan African Champion alongside his brother Jason. David Dunford was selected as the Most Promising Sportsman in Kenya in 2006. In 2007, he participated in the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

and

All-Africa Games The African Games, formally known as the All-Africa Games or the Pan African Games, are a continental multi-sport event held every four years, organized by the African Union with the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa and the ...

. He competed in the 2008 FINA Short Course World Championships in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

in April 2008 and reached the 50m and 100m freestyle semifinals, finishing 12th in both races. David Dunford competed at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

. In the 50 metres freestyle race, he finished 20th overall in heats and missed the semifinals by only 0.12 seconds. He did not compete in the

2008 African Swimming Championships The 9th African Swimming Championships were held at Ellis Park, Johannesburg, South Africa from 1–7 December 2008. Participants Swimmers from 18 countriesA list of the countries with swimmers at the championships was included in the articlJes ...

due to his studies. At the

2009 Summer Universiade The 2009 Summer Universiade, officially known as the XXV Summer Universiade, was celebrated in Belgrade, Serbia from July 1 to 12, 2009. The event has also been organised by a range of co-host cities mostly in Vojvodina (Serbian Autonomous Provin ...

he reached the 50 metres freestyle final, finishing sixth. At the 2009 World Championships he reached the semifinals in the 50m freestyle. At the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, he competed in the 50 and 100 metre freestyle.

Personal life

Dunford is the son of Martin and Geraldine Dunford. Martin Dunford is the Chairman of the Tamarind Group, which owns the Carnivore Restaurant in Nairobi; Geraldine, granddaughter of Abraham Block, founder of Block Hotels, is the marketing executive. Martin is also the vice chairman of the Kenya Swimming Federation and the patron of the Nairobi Amateur Swimming Association (NASA). He has two brothers, Robert and Jason. Jason is also a swimmer and represents Kenya. After early childhood in Kenya, David Dunford went to

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

, a secondary school in the United Kingdom, after which he attended

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, where he studied Management Science and Engineering.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dunford, David 1988 births Living people Kenyan people of British descent Kenyan male swimmers Swimmers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Olympic swimmers for Kenya Sportspeople from Nairobi Swimmers at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Kenya White Kenyan people African Games gold medalists for Kenya African Games silver medalists for Kenya African Games bronze medalists for Kenya Swimmers at the 2007 All-Africa Games Swimmers at the 2011 All-Africa Games 21st-century Kenyan sportsmen People educated at Marlborough College African Games bronze medalists in swimming African Games silver medalists in swimming African Games gold medalists in swimming