Devon Brown
Originally from Durban, South Africa Devon Myles Brown is a distance freestyle specialist from South Africa. Brown has recently risen among the world rankings, and only first began making South Africa’s senior teams in 2012.
Early career
In 2012 Brown first made headlines competing for South Africa at the World Short Course Championships, where he finished 15th in the 1500m freestyle. Brown competed at the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, competing for South Africa – he finished sixth in the 400m freestyle, and finished within the top 20 of both the 1500m freestyle and the 800m freestyle.
Disappointing 2013 World Championships
After competing at the 2013 World Championships in Barcelona, Brown didn’t achieve his goals for the meet, and he also didn’t bring home a medal for his country. He decided to take time away from the pool, and took off one-and-a-half months from training.
2013 break from swimming
Brown’s short break helped him figure out why he loved to swim again, and he regained his passion for the sport. Soon after returning from his break, Brown competed at the South African National Aquatic Championships in Durban – he won gold in the 100m, 200m, 400m, and 800m freestyles, even breaking the South African Records in the 400m and 800m freestyle distances.
2015 World Championships qualifier
Some of Brown’s wins at the South African National Aquatic Championships in Durban were fast enough to qualify him for the 2015 World Championships. In the same year he competed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and swam at the Mare Nostrum Series in Monaco, where he was lined up for huge cash prizes. He won the 400m freestyle, swimming an excellent race to hold off Faroese swimmer, Pal Joensen. Later he also won gold in the 1500m freestyle in the meet. So far he’s qualified for the 200m, 400m and 800m freestyle.
2015 World Rankings
Brown is one of the world’s top-10 fastest 400m freestyle swimmers in 2015. After missing out on the 2012 London Olympics, which he says was a blessing in disguise, Brown’s ultimate goal is to medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.