Victor Davis

Canadian breaststroke swimmer who won Olympic gold in the 200m event at the 1984 Los Angeles Games and set multiple world records before his death at age 25.

The 1984 Los Angeles Olympics 200-meter breaststroke final belonged to Victor Davis by the largest winning margin in an Olympic breaststroke final in six decades, the peak of a career built on 26 Canadian national titles and two World Championship golds before his death at 25 in a Montreal hit-and-run in November 1989. As a relatively unknown 16-year-old at the 1980 Canadian nationals, he returned the following year to defeat legendary favourite Graham Smith in the 100m breaststroke, the first of his 26 career national titles. Davis burst onto the international scene in 1982, setting a world record and winning gold in the 200m breaststroke at that year's World Championships, and winning Commonwealth Games gold the same year, though a notorious incident followed a relay disqualification when he reportedly kicked over a chair in frustration, reportedly in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II. At the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, he won silver in the 100m breaststroke before winning gold in the 200m breaststroke by the largest margin in an Olympic breaststroke final in six decades, breaking his own world record, and added a silver in the medley relay. Davis won a second World Championship gold in the 100m breaststroke at the 1986 championships in Madrid, and closed his Olympic career at the 1988 Seoul Games with a silver medal in the medley relay as defending 200m breaststroke champion. Immensely popular in Canada for his cocky flamboyance as much as his talent, Davis retired from swimming in July 1989. Just months later, on November 11, 1989, he was struck by a car in a hit-and-run outside a Montreal nightclub following an altercation with the driver, and died two days later from his injuries at age 25. His organs were donated per his wishes, and the Victor Davis Memorial Fund continues to support young Canadian swimmers.

Fiercely competitive breaststroke specialist known for aggressive front-running and a flamboyant personality

Widely regarded as one of the greatest and most beloved Canadian swimmers of all time, his tragic early death still commemorated through the Victor Davis Memorial Fund

• Olympic gold, 200m breaststroke (1984)
• 3x Olympic silver (1984 100m breaststroke and medley relay, 1988 medley relay)
• 2x World Champion (200m breaststroke 1982, 100m breaststroke 1986)
• 3x Commonwealth Games gold