Tokyo 2020 was just the start for Tom Dean who is inspired by the greats of the sport and their longevity.
Dean became the first British man to win the Olympic 200 free title when he led home teammate Duncan Scott for an historic one-two in the Japanese capital.
The pair were subsequently joined by Matt Richards and James Guy to claim another gold in the 4x200m, just 0.03secs outside the world record, as British men won their first Olympic relay medal since 1908.
After a three-month break from the water, Dean returned to training under the watchful eye of Dave McNulty at Bath National Training Centre.
Now Dean is looking to add world gold to his Olympic title at the World Championships in Budapest, starting Saturday where he’ll compete in the 200 free and 200IM plus relays.
There he’ll seek to cement his place at the top table, one he has no intention of relinquishing for years to come.
Dean said:
“I think that’s what any person who wins on the world stage wants to do – they want to back it up with more performances.
“It’s one thing to reach the top but it’s another thing to really stay up there and that is what the greats are able to do, the greats of this sport, and of others as well.
“I’ve just turned 22, I was 21 when I won the Olympics, and I’ve still got a quite a few more years in the sport, so I want to go out there and win world medals like I’ve never done before; Commonwealth medals because I’ve never done that before; I just want to keep adding to this CV.
“I wouldn’t have it start any other way – going straight to Olympic gold is the best way to start this but I’ve still got a few other things I want to add to the repertoire.”
Picking The Brains Of A Pioneer
Photo Courtesy: Andrea Masini / Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
Dean has been able to tap into the knowledge of teammate Adam Peaty who has not only been able to stay at the top but has taken the 50 and 100 breaststroke through a timewarp and into new territory.
Dean too is looking to make history at the Paris Games in two years’ time, saying:
“This is what it’s all about for me at the moment, winning after winning.
“Going to Paris and defending that title and after doing my research, no-one has ever done that before.
“No person has ever defended a 200 freestyle title in the history of the sport so to be the first man to do that would be something really special.
“The only person whose brains I can really pick about it are Adam’s and it has been a topic of conversation between us.
“And yeah, it’s something that I have been talking to him about and that’s what gets me really excited, talking about that legacy of defending a title.
“But it does take real mental strength and resilience to commit yourself to another year, another year, another year of training to back that up.”
And what advice has Peaty imparted?
“For him it’s really been taking one competition at a time and he never set a barrier on himself, he never set a ceiling for his own performances.
“He wasn’t like ‘oh, I want to hit this time’ or ‘I want to win worlds’ or ‘I want to win the Olympics and then I’ll be able to call it’.
“Even for myself – someone so close to him as a swimmer on the same team – he just keeps breaking through these barriers.
“So I think it’s not setting a ceiling for yourself, not setting any limits on yourself: although that sounds slightly cliched, it is very true in the case of Adam.
“I remember watching him in Gwangju (Peaty set a 100brWR of 56.88) and he just kept getting quicker and quicker, almost to an unbelievable extent.
“So I think that is something he is brilliant at.”
Peaty And Scott To Miss Budapest
Duncan Scott & Tom Dean: Photo Courtesy: Georgie Kerr, British Swimming
Peaty will not be in Budapest having withdrawn last month after breaking his foot while training in Tenerife.
Nor will Scott be there with the six-time Olympic medallist announcing his withdrawal on Tuesday after struggling to recover from Covid.
Speaking after Peaty’s withdrawal but before Scott pulled out, Dean said:
“I think it will be tough because he (Peaty) is such a dominant figure in the world of swimming and he has got the CV to back it up.
“But at the same time the team is just getting stronger and stronger; look at our medal count of Tokyo compared to Rio; look at Rio compared to London.
“We are coming home with such a great haul from these major competitions but although it will be tough not having him there, I feel like the team is going to do such a brilliant job. We cleaned up at Europeans last year a few weeks before the Olympics and then went and had an absolute scorcher of an Olympic Games.”
Dean Embraces The Spotlight
Only Sun Yang and Yannick Agnel have managed to win 200 free world gold a year after claiming the Olympic crown, both men now disgraced.
Michael Gross won the title at Los Angeles 1984 and at Madrid worlds two years later before the global event became a biennial meet.
This time last year Dean had yet to pay a visit to the global podium although he had already won four golds among seven medals across two European Championships in 2018 and 2021.
That all changed though in 1min 44.22secs on the morning of 27 July 2021 when he won the title by 0.04 from Scott to reach the pinnacle.
Now known as ‘Olympic champion Tom Dean,’ his life has transformed in and out of the pool where he faces challenges in the 200 free from youngsters David Popovici, Matt Sates and Hwang Sunwoo as well as Tokyo bronze medallist Fernando Scheffer.
Tom Dean: Photo Courtesy: Georgie Kerr, British Swimming
He said:
“It’s different but it’s the same: it’s different in that I’ll have a target on my back.
“It will be different in that respect but I think I’m going to use that as something that’s really going to spur me on because I know what I’m capable of.
“I know I’m capable of delivering the performance I want to on the day I need to; of going a 1:44 low which was enough to win me the Olympics and hopefully I can replicate that in Budapest.
“So for me that’s even more exciting to have these results behind me: it’s not like okay I’m Olympic champion, everyone is going to be looking at me, everyone’s going to want to try and catch me – this is a negative source of pressure.
“I wouldn’t change it for the world: I would much rather have that pressure and have those people chasing me and me being the one to beat heading into it.
“So I’m really, really excited I can carry that into Budapest whereas in Tokyo last year it was more of ‘I’m in medal contention but it’s going to take a hell of a swim to get on the top of that podium’.
“So it is different heading into this competition.”