Meet Great Britain's golden 4x200m freestyle team

Swimming 28 Jul 23

It was a medal written into creation long before they stepped onto poolside.

Duncan Scott, Matt Richards, James Guy and Tom Dean roared to 4x200m freestyle glory at the World Championships in Japan, fending off the USA for victory in a time of 6:59.08.

With a stacked line-up including the 2023 world champion, the 2015 world champion, the 2020 Olympic champion and Team GB's most decorated medallist at a single Olympic Games it was hard to look past them as favourites for the event.

And as the Tokyo 2020 Olympic champions returned to the Land of the Rising Sun, they rose to the golden mark once more.

In the aftermath of their victory, meet your new 4x200m freestyle world champions.

Duncan Scott: The campaigner

26, Stirling, dunks_scott

Six-time Olympic medallist Duncan Scott is on a mission. A mission to keep pools everywhere open.

The freestyle and medley swimmer is a passionate campaigner and works closely with Scottish Swimming to make sure pools across the country and UK continue stay open so young children have the access to swimming lessons.

A former tennis prodigy, the Scot is a lover of all sports, writing his dissertation on the effect NFL Fantasy has had on social media consumption.

In recent months, Scott has taken on the role of influencer and documentarian on his own social media, posting a daily update on his Instagram stories updating on training and his everyday life.

A big whiskey lover, if he's not in the swimming pool you can usually find Scott cruising around the picturesque scenery of Scotland in his BMW or listening to SAINt JHN.

Matt Richards: The rising star

20, Worcester, m4ttrichards

Matt Richards might be the youngest of the quartet, but he has plenty of experience in the pool.

The Welshman can be spotted from his left arm tattoo sleeve, which of course includes the famed Olympic rings, and has catapulted himself onto the freestyle scene in the last two years.

One of TV's greatest moments of 2021 included a very mature Richards showcasing his ability to hold in a laugh during an awkward encounter with Clare Balding following their Tokyo Olympic gold medal.

A younger Richards also used to be a vlogger, with a relatively active YouTube channel running from 2020-2021, including an interview with the one and only Caeleb Dressel of the USA.

Richards is currently engaged to fellow British swimmer Emily Large.

James Guy: The golfer

27, Bath, james.g.guy

It might be heavily debated topic amongst themselves, but James Guy is British Swimming's top golfer.

Brought to senior prominence back in 2014, Guy has been a stalwart of the swimming scene ever since, with five Olympic medals, five world titles and seven European titles to his name.

But the 2015 world champion spends his free time having fun on the green, often taking his teammates along for the ride.

Guy already has his post-swimming career set, with plans to become a real estate dealer after undertaking a series of work experience sessions with Knight and Frank in London.

Also to note: the Bath-based swimmer has a very cute Cavapoo puppy named Alfie who regularly makes an appearance on his socials.

Tom Dean: The podcaster

23, Maidenhead, tomdean00

Most will know Tom Dean from his Tokyo 2020 golden antics, but you can also hear the freestylers dulcet tones on Spotify.

Dean, alongside his close friend Alex Sutton, started 'The Weekly Freestyle' Podcast back in 2022 and are leading up to their third season of talking all things swimming.

A maths whiz, Dean, also known as Deano, began a degree in mechanical engineering at Bath University before deferring to focus on Tokyo.

But the maths geek inside is still there, crunching lactate numbers and iron intake instead of polynomials.

Dean loves to spend his time in taper golfing with teammate James Guy, even if his coach Dave McNulty says that he should be resting up.

Sportsbeat 2023

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