Thomas Dean, or Tom Dean, as he is known in the UK, defeated fellow countryman Scott Duncan and Brazilian Fernando Schaeffer to win the gold medal in the 200-meter freestyle. Victory at the Tokyo Games came after much skepticism amid the pandemic and was celebrated by family and friends as the tournament’s true ultimate goal.
Tom Dean went so far as to say that gold in Japan looked “a million miles away” when she had to go into isolation in January of this year after contracting COVID-19 for the second time in five months.
“It was difficult to stay out of the water for so long, you obviously have to come back slowly due to illness [e das sequelas]”You cannot immediately resume full training. It has been a very difficult and unstable path,” he said.
Tom Dean took the gold with a time of 1 minute 44 seconds 22 seconds, closely followed by compatriot Duncan Scott, who achieved 1 m 44 and 26 and awarded Great Britain a double in the 200 m freestyle.
“It’s the greatest achievement of my life,” the 21-year-old completed the swim.
The family celebrates gold as a goal
A video circulating online shows Tom Dean’s family and friends turning the apprehension during the competition into something like celebrating a goal in the World Cup Final.
Wearing a uniform with a T-shirt emblazoned with “Team Tom” (Team Tom), they were very nervous during the 200m, but the gold-medal confirmation turned the meeting into a real party (see video below).
