She competed in three Olympic Games[2] over three decades, 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. She also competed in the international community spanning over 20 years
Since retiring from the sport, she has worked for various media organisations and programmes. In 2005, Davies supported the British Olympic bid by profile-raising and appearing as spokesperson on BBC's Question Time where she made a strong case for bringing the games to London for 2012. Davies is a current patron of the Disabled Sport England and SportsAid. She was also the face of the Swim for Life charity event which raised total over £10m for many charities.
She originally learnt to swim with Devonport Royal Swimming Association. She moved to Port of Plymouth Swimming Association when she was eight and was coached for the first year first by Ray Bickley then by her father Terry Davies who became a coach.[4][5] Her father was never selected as an international coach because he spoke out about East German cheating. He was added in 2021 to the Coaches Association Hall of Fame.[5]
Swimming
She set a record by swimming for the British national team at the age of 11. In 1976, at age 13, Davies was selected to represent Great Britain at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. The next year she won two bronze medals in the 1977 European Championships. The following year, at age 15, she won gold medals at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in the 200 and 400-metre individual medleys and also a silver and a bronze medal.[6]
At 18, Davies called time on the first stage of her swimming career to build her television profile and a career in modelling. In 1989, and training at Bracknell & Wokingham Swimming Club, she returned to the pool, where she picked up two more medals at the 1990 Commonwealth Games.[6][failed verification]
Medals and awards
Davies has broken or re broken many British records whilst competing and winning[8][9] For medals table, see Medal record.
silver medal in the 400-metre individual medley at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow[2]
Sharron Davies in the 1983 series The OptimistBronze statue of a mermaid, modelled by Davies, on the sea wall of the Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes, Isle of Wight
Swimming biography Against the Tide published in 1984[22]
Learn to Swim in a Weekend (1992, translated into multiple languages)[23]
Channel 4 television comedy series The Optimist, in an episode that was filmed entirely on location on Mexico
This Morning – presenting a mums and babies learning to swim series on ITV
BBC Question time – discussing the winning Olympic bid for London 2012 which Davies was part of
Presenter at London's 2012 Olympics Handover Party in the Mall
In January 2022, she launched an online fitness site, Sharron Davies Training.[26]
In her her 2023 book, Unfair Play: The Battle for Women’s Sport, Davies argues against the cheating of female athletes by trans women participating in women's sport.[27] Davies compares trans women competing in women's sport to the drug-enhanced performances of GDR women that robbed her and other females, like Ann Osgerby, of their medals.[28]
Personal life
In the 1980s, Davies lived with and was engaged to Neil Adams[29] an Olympic and World Championship medallist in judo.
Davies then married gym manager John Crisp in West Sussex in 1987. They were divorced in 1991.[30]
Davies's third marriage was to British Airways pilot Tony Kingston.[32][better source needed] They were married in 2002 in Gloucestershire.[33][failed verification] In autumn 2006, she announced that she was three months pregnant after 8 rounds of IVF treatment, having been trying for a baby for four years and suffering two miscarriages. During a Sport Relief event in Devon, she said: "We're very optimistic and happy but we're cautious, too, because of what we have been through. Giving birth at 44 doesn't worry me. So many women go through this as they leave it later to have babies." Davies gave birth to her third child on 30 January 2007. She split up with Kingston in 2009 after seven years of marriage.[34]
Davies is known for her views on gender identity, trans rights campaigning and has been associated with the gender-critical movement. She has expressed concerns about the impact of self-identification on women's sports and spaces, arguing that it may disadvantage cisgender women. These views have generated significant debate and controversy.
In a tweet posted on 21 December 2019, Davies expressed her disapproval of drag shows, comparing them to blackface.[36] The statement drew criticism with some commentators finding her comparison to blackface inappropriate and disrespectful of the fight against racism.[37] In response to the criticism, Davies clarified that her comment was not intended to be understood as racist.
In September 2023, Davies was reported to be leading a campaign aiming to question Members of Parliament (MPs) on camera about their understanding of the term "woman" and publishing their responses online.[38] The "What Is A Woman?" campaign claims that its volunteers are trained to approach MPs, seeking clarification of their positions on camera.[39]
Trans women in sport and modeling
In 2019, Davies made comments about participation by trans women in female sporting competitions, opposing such participation and saying that trans women hold a biological advantage in sports.[40] She became involved in the question of trans women in sport because at the 1980 Olympics she lost out on gold to Petra Schneider who, along with other East German athletes, had been put on testosterone to enhance their performances through doping.[41]
In 2022, Davies said that trans women hold a potential biological male performance advantage at the elite level of 10–20% over cisgender females and called for women's sport to exclude XY chromosome athletes.[42] In March, she wrote a column for The Times arguing that trans women's advantage is the result of going through male puberty, resulting in a narrower angle between the hips and knees which testosterone reduction does not eliminate, and called for trans women to compete in an open category rather than being excluded from competition entirely.[43] In the same article, she stated: "This month we saw an athlete, Lia Thomas, who was an average club swimmer as a man claim an NCAA title as the US No 1 woman with 20 years of male development in the tank."[43]
In 2023, Davies criticised sportswear brand Nike for using Dylan Mulvaney, a transgender woman, to model their products in an advertisement and called for a boycott.[44]
