OLYMPICS GOLD for Tom Dean of Team Bath swimmer
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- Created on Tuesday, 27 July 2021 07:57
- Last Updated on Wednesday, 28 July 2021 08:29
- Published on Tuesday, 27 July 2021 07:57
- Written by NEIL ROSE
Mechanical Engineering student Dean, who is supported by a Bill Whiteley Sporting Scholarship, took a quarter of a second off his personal best to clock a new British record of 1:42.22 in an incredible final and pip fellow Team GB star Duncan Scott to victory by four-hundredths of a second.
“I want to say thank you so much to everyone back home, I’m lost for words – it’s amazing!” Dean said to the BBC after the race.
It is a first British one-two for Team GB on the Olympic swimming podium for more than a century and a first Olympic title won by an athlete training at the University of Bath since Jason Gardener's helped Team GB to 4x100m gold at Athens 2004.
Ahead of his debut Games, Dean thanked the University of Bath for supporting him on his Olympic journey by allowing him to defer his Mechanical Engineering studies to concentrate fully on his Tokyo training.
“That backing from the University was a massive, massive help and continues to be,” said the 21-year-old. “I’m one of the sporting scholars here and knowing that support network is there, all the services that the University offers, has given me a great deal of confidence and allowed me to focus purely on becoming the best performer I can be.”
Dean will be hoping for more Olympic glory as part of a GB men’s 4x200m freestyle squad that also features fellow Bath-based swimmers James Guy, Matt Richards and Sports Performance graduate Calum Jarvis. They begin their campaign in the heats at 1203 BST.
Twenty sportspeople who train at the Team Bath Sports Training Village are competing at the Tokyo Olympic Games, as well as 12 University of Bath graduates.
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