Since James Guy<\/strong> anchored the quartet to victory at the 2015 worlds in Kazan, Russia, Great Britain<\/strong> have won world titles in 2017 and 2023 as well as bronze in 2022.<\/p>\n Silver at Rio 2016 was followed by gold five years later in Tokyo when Dean and Guy were joined by Matt Richards<\/strong> and Duncan Scott<\/strong> with the quartet just 0.03 off the WR in 6:58.58.<\/p>\n The USA set the standard of 6:58.55 at the 2009 World Championships in Rome at the peak of the supersuit era.<\/p>\n Tom Dean: Photo Courtesy: Andrea Staccioli \/ Deepbluemedia \/ Insidefoto<\/p><\/div>\n The Games also showcased Great Britain\u2019s excellence in the 200 free where Dean and Scott claimed a 1-2 finish in the individual event.<\/p>\n A strength that means Dean will not compete in the individual event in Paris after finishing third at the trials behind Richards and Scott.<\/p>\n The quartet combined to win the world title in Fukuoka last year and Dean believes their combined, focused confidence has played a part in how they execute their race and their subsequent sustained success on the world stage.<\/p>\n He told Swimming World:<\/p>\n \u201cPeople have taken notice of us in that event for a number of years now.<\/p>\n \u201cEven last year, the Americans were hot on our heels and I was anchoring but I knew that even though we only had a small, few-metres gain on the Americans, I was confident in my ability and the ability of the team.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone knows the right thing to say: I had Duncan behind me on the blocks saying just the right thing and it meant I was able to go in and execute a smart race.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n He adds:<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re all smart swimmers when it comes to the 200 free. It\u2019s very easy to get caught up in it and the Americans are quite guilty of it.<\/p>\n \u201cGoing out way too hard, getting too excited and then not being able to execute a smart race.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s the beauty of the 4×2. It\u2019s not lie the sprint events where it is just hell for leather, you have to be quite tactical and I think that\u2019s one of our strengths.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n While Great Britain have won plenty of silverware in the 4×2 through the years, the men\u2019s 4×100 free relay has never made the Olympic podium.<\/p>\n Matt Richards & Tom Dean: Photo Courtesy: Deepbluemedia<\/p><\/div>\n They haven\u2019t reached the final for the last three Games, finishing 0.03 outside the eighth and last spot at Tokyo.<\/p>\n Richards won the trials in London followed by Scott, Dean and Alexander Cohoon<\/strong> and Jacob Whittle.<\/strong><\/p>\n The quartet seemed set to be real medal contenders at the 2023 worlds only to be DQd for Whittle\u2019s false start.<\/p>\n Dean believes that the quartet can make history by reaching the podium on day one at La Defense Arena.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019ve been a podium shot in that event for a number of years now and it\u2019s never quite come to fruition. It\u2019s never quite materialised.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had enough people but maybe not everyone is firing on the day but maybe we have a spanner thrown in the works like last year with the disqualification \u2013 I was convinced we could have had a really nice medal on that event.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I feel like it\u2019s being bubbling under the surface for a long time now.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve got the depth, we have the age range, we have the speed, we have the experience, we have the youthfulness \u2013 we have all the right ingredients for a great 4×1 freestyle relay and I do believe if we can get it right and everyone is firing like I know they are, this time around that something pretty special will happen in that event.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tom Dean: Racing Smart Key To 4×2 Success & Time For ‘Something Special’ In the 4×100 Free Tom Dean says one of the key factors in Great Britain\u2019s continued 4×200<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7575,"featured_media":519357,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,122074],"tags":[70616,134128,17020,94016,32014,120003,57812,122260,7419,66654],"class_list":["post-592246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-europe","tag-2024-olympic-games-coverage-paris","tag-alexander-cohoon","tag-duncan-scott","tag-jacob-whittle","tag-james-guy","tag-matt-richards","tag-paris-2024","tag-team-gb","tag-tokyo-olympics","tag-tom-dean"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n![\"tom-dean-2022-world-championships\"](\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/tom-dean-2022-world-championships-700x500.jpg\")
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