LA in sights, but Edinburgh on agenda first for Dean

Summer 2028 might seem a long way off, but Great Britain swimmer Tom Dean’s thoughts are already there. And have been for a long time.

It was the prospect of the Olympics in Los Angeles that prompted the double gold medallist to uproot his life from Bath and move to Stirling last September.

And even this week, having arrived back from a three-week high-altitude training camp in Arizona, the 25-year-old bounced straight into a meeting about the logisitics and planning for the next Games.

“This is going to come around pretty quick,” Dean tells BBC Sport Scotland. “In six months, we’re going to be closer to LA than we are to Paris, which is crazy to think.”

Had you said to the Englishman prior to those Paris Games in 2024 that his preparations would be done in Stirling, he would likely have found that unlikely, too.

However, with LA in mind, Dean decided fresh impetus was needed and opted to join his big pal Duncan Scott and others at the University of Stirling. It is a change he is revelling in.

“I got through my first Stirling winter and the days are starting to get longer, which is quite nice,” he says. “It’s flown by and I’m absolutely loving it.

“It feels like when I was 18, and I was completely new, with training partners that can push me, and I need to earn my stripes all over again. It’s been a real kick up the backside and given me a new burst of energy.”

The move has also given Dean a cultural education.

He now knows there are two different types of sausage that go in breakfast rolls and, thanks to their shared training facilities, he is now fully appraised in the ways of the Team GB curlers who won silver at the Winter Olympics.

Exploring the hills around Stirling are also on his agenda but, first, Dean will compete in the 200m and 400m freestyle over the next couple of days at the Edinburgh International Swim Meet – live on the BBC.

“I love the Edinburgh meet,” he adds. “It’s a real staple – like a British trials before the British trials because everyone’s at this meet.