Dave joined the sportscotland institute of sport in October 2003 in the new position of High Performance Co-coordinator, became Head of Performance Planning in February 2007 and is now one the the High Performance Managers. He has a BSc (Hons) in Microbiology, MPhil in Colorectal Cancer research in addition to his Diploma in Sports Psychology and was a competitor in the sport of Canoe Slalom, representing GB Junior and Senior teams from 1983 to 1994 before retiring from competitive paddling in 1996.
Dave is a level three qualified Canoe Slalom Coach and was a Coach to the GB Canoe Slalom Team from 1997 to 1999. He then became National Head Coach to the Irish Canoe Slalom Team 1999 - 2000 (through the 1999 World Championships, the 2000 European Championships and the Sydney Olympic Games) and returned to work with GB World Class Programmes in November 2000, initially with the 'Potential' programme until 2001 when he became Senior National Coach on the World Class Performance Programme before moving to the Institute in October 2003.