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Tom Dean (swimmer)

Tom Dean
MBE
Personal information
Full nameThomas William Darnton Dean
National teamGreat Britain
England
Born (2000-05-02) 2 May 2000 (age 24)
London, England
Height1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)[1]
Weight88 kg (194 lb)[1]
Sport
SportSwimming
StrokesMedley, freestyle
ClubBath National Centre
CoachDavid McNulty

Thomas William Darnton Dean MBE (born 2 May 2000)[2] is a British competitive freestyle swimmer. He is a triple Olympic gold medallist, winning gold individually in 200 metre freestyle at the 2020 Summer Olympics and as part of a team in 4 × 200 m freestyle relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2024 Summer Olympics.[3]

Dean has represented Great Britain at the European Junior Championships and the European Championships. He also competed at the 2020 European Championships where he won three gold and two silver medals in the team events and one individual bronze in 200m freestyle. Dean has won relay gold at all four major events available to him – at the World Championships, Olympic Games and European Championships and, for England, at the Commonwealth Games.

Early life

Dean was born to Jacquie Hughes and Jonathan Dean in London, the second of five children.[4][5][6] He grew up in Maidenhead, Berkshire, and was a pupil at the Sir William Borlase's Grammar School in Marlow, Buckinghamshire.[7] He took up swimming when he was eight, and joined the Maidenhead Marlins.[8] He went to study mechanical engineering at the University of Bath in 2018 while training at the National Centre for Swimming in Bath.[9]

Career

At the 2017 European Junior Championships, Dean won the gold medal in the 200m Individual Medley[10] and the silver medal in the 400m Individual Medley.[11] At the 2018 European Junior Championships, Dean retained the gold medal in the 200m Individual Medley, breaking a European Junior record in the process.[12] He also won two bronze medals, in the 400m Individual Medley[13] and the 4x200m Freestyle relay.[14]

Dean was selected for the British team for the 2018 European Championships, his first senior competition, where he participated in the 200m Individual medley, 400m Individual medley, and won gold as part of the 4x200m freestyle team.[15]

2021 – Olympic gold medals

In May 2021, Dean won gold as part of a team in mixed 4 × 100 metre and mixed 4 × 200 metre freestyle,[16][17] as well as silver in the men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle and 4 × 200 metre freestyle relays at the European Championships.[18][19] He also won an individual bronze medal in the 200m freestyle.[20]

On 27 July 2021, at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Dean won the gold medal in the 200m freestyle, with his teammate Duncan Scott winning the silver medal.[21] He then won gold in the men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay together with James Guy, Duncan Scott, and Matt Richards in a time of six minutes 58.58 seconds. Dean became the first male British swimmer to win two gold Olympic medals at the same games in 113 years, a feat later equalled in the same week by James Guy and Adam Peaty.[22]

Dean was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 New Year Honours for services to swimming.[23][24]

2022

At the 2022 World Aquatics Championships, Dean won the bronze medal in the 200 metre freestyle with a time of 1:44.98.[25] His bronze medal was the first medal won by a swimmer representing Great Britain at the 2022 World Aquatics Championships.[26] He won his second bronze medal of the Championships in the 4×200 metre freestyle relay, splitting a 1:43.53 for the anchor leg of the relay to finish in a final time of 7:04.00.[27] In the 4×100 metre medley relay he won his third bronze medal of the Championships, helping achieve a third-place finish in the final in 3:31.31 by swimming the anchor leg of the relay in 47.45 seconds.[28][29][30]

Also in 2022, he was part of the team that won the gold medal in the Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.[31]

2023

In 2023, he won the gold medal at the 2023 British Swimming Championships in the 200 metres medley. It was the first time he had won the 200 metres event and his second British title, having previously won the 400 metres event in 2018.[32] At the subsequent World Championships, Dean won four medals; his first World Championship gold in the men's 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay,[33] silver in the 200 metres freestyle behind teammate Matt Richards,[34] bronze behind Léon Marchand of France, and teammate Duncan Scott in the 200 metres individual medley and a further bronze in the mixed 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay behind Australia and the United States.

2024

After finishing second in the 200 metres medley at the 2024 Aquatics GB Swimming Championships, Dean recorded a time that met the British Consideration criteria for a place at the 2024 Summer Olympics[35] and was subsequently named in the British team for the Olympics.[36] Dean did not qualify to defend his individual 200m freestyle at the Paris Olympics. In the men's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay, the same quartet of British swimmers who won in the same event at the Tokyo Olympics – James Guy, Duncan Scott, Matt Richards and Dean – swam in the final. They won the relay with a time of six minutes and 59.43 seconds, becoming the first team to successfully defend an Olympic swimming relay title with the same four swimmers.[37] They are also the first British team to have defended an Olympic relay title in swimming or athletics.[38] Following their win, Dean confirmed he would be participating in the twenty-second series of Strictly Come Dancing.[39] Dean was partnered with Nadiya Bychkova and they were the first couple eliminated in week two, after losing the dance-off to Toyah Willcox and Neil Jones.[40]

References

  1. ^ a b "Tom Dean". isl.global. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Thomas Dean". British Swimming.
  3. ^ "Tom Dean". British Swimming. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  4. ^ Day, Aasma (31 July 2021). "Tom Dean: 'Winning two Olympic gold medals doesn't mean he gets out of emptying the dishwasher,' says mum". iNews.
  5. ^ Dayus, Oscar (27 July 2021). "How Tom Dean come back from Covid to win gold in Tokyo". Somerset Live.
  6. ^ Drew, Sophie (4 August 2021). "Tokyo Olympics 2021: Olympic star Tom Dean's dad shares his son's secret to success". BerkshireLive.
  7. ^ "Tom Dean wins gold at Tokyo Olympics (and makes Marlow school proud)". Bucks Free Press. 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  8. ^ Drew, Sophie (28 July 2021). "Tokyo 2020 - Berkshire Olympic swimmer Tom Dean's mum shares family's awe-inspiring journey". Berkshire Live.
  9. ^ "Tokyo 2020: Sporting scholar Tom Dean grateful for University of Bath support in and out of pool ahead of Olympic swimming debut". Team Bath. 16 July 2021.
  10. ^ "Tom Dean wins 200m IM gold | Netanya 2017 European Junior Champs". Swim England Competitive Swimming Hub. 1 July 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  11. ^ "Tom Dean wins second European Junior medal | Netanya 2017 Swimming". Swim England Competitive Swimming Hub. 3 July 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  12. ^ "Tom Dean sets European Junior Championships record as he wins gold". Swim England Competitive Swimming Hub. 7 July 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  13. ^ "GB finish third in European Junior Swimming Championships medal table". Swim England Competitive Swimming Hub. 9 July 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  14. ^ "Tom Dean sets European Junior Championships record as he wins gold". Swim England Competitive Swimming Hub. 7 July 2018. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
  15. ^ "James Guy and Tom Dean help GB land European 4x200m Freestyle gold". Swim England Competitive Swimming Hub. 5 August 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
  16. ^ Hope, Nick (22 May 2021). "Adam Peaty wins third European gold of week with 50m breaststroke victory in Budapest". BBC Sport.
  17. ^ "Another relay medal and another British record as Bath-based trio continue fantastic start to 2021 LEN European Swimming Champs". University of Bath. 19 May 2021.
  18. ^ "European Swimming Championships: GB win silver in men's 4x200m freestyle". BBC News. 19 May 2021.
  19. ^ "European Swimming Championships: Great Britain win silver in men's 4x100m freestyle". BBC Sport. 17 May 2021.
  20. ^ "European Swimming Championships: Scott & Dean take silver & bronze in 200m freestyle". BBC Sport. 21 May 2021.
  21. ^ "Swimming - Final Results". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. 27 July 2021. Archived from the original on 27 July 2021. Retrieved 27 July 2021.
  22. ^ Ostlers, Lawrence (28 July 2021). "Olympics: Tears flow in Tokyo as Britain win 4x200m relay as Tom Dean makes history". The Independent.
  23. ^ "No. 63571". The London Gazette (Supplement). 1 January 2022. p. N18.
  24. ^ "New Year Honours 2022: Jason Kenny receives a knighthood and Laura Kenny made a dame". BBC Sport. 31 December 2021.
  25. ^ FINA (20 June 2022). "19th FINA World Championships Budapest (HUN): Men's 200m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  26. ^ "Determined Dean claims Great Britain's first medal of FINA World Championships". Swim England. 20 June 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  27. ^ FINA (23 June 2022). "19th FINA World Championships Budapest (HUN): Men's 4x200m Freestyle Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  28. ^ FINA (25 June 2022). "19th FINA World Championships Budapest (HUN): Men's 4x100m Medley Relay Final Results". Omega Timing. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  29. ^ "World Aquatics Championship: Great Britain win bronze in men's 4x100m medley relay". BBC Sport. 25 June 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  30. ^ "Men's Medley Relay End World Champs With Budapest Bronze". British Swimming. 25 June 2022. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  31. ^ "Jacob Peters". Team England. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  32. ^ "British Swimming Championships 2023". British Swimming. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  33. ^ Smirnova, Lena (28 July 2023). "World Aquatics Championships 2023: British men's 4x200m freestyle relay team snatches world title from defending champions USA to avenge 2022 disappointment". Olympics.com.
  34. ^ "World Aquatics Championships 2023: GB's Matt Richards and Tom Dean win 200m freestyle gold and silver". BBC Sports. 25 July 2023.
  35. ^ "Speedo Aquatics GB Swimming Championships 2024". Swimming.org. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  36. ^ "Paris Olympics 2024: Team GB name swimming squad for Games". BBC Sport. 16 April 2024. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  37. ^ Charlesworth, David (30 July 2024). "Great Britain quartet retain 4x200m relay title to give GB first Paris pool gold". The Independent.
  38. ^ Henry, Matthew (30 July 2024). "GB retain relay title to win first swimming gold". BBC.
  39. ^ "Strictly Come Dancing 2024: Olympic swimmer Tom Dean to join show". BBC News. 2 August 2024. Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  40. ^ "Strictly Come Dancing result: Tom Dean and Toyah Willcox face first dance-off". BBC News. 29 September 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2024.