Swimmer Tom Dean says Strictly was as ‘mentally’ challenging as the Olympics

Olympic swimming champion Tom Dean has said Strictly Come Dancing was as “mentally” challenging as the Olympics.

The gold-medallist swimmer and his professional dance partner Nadiya Bychkova became the first pair to be eliminated from this year’s series after they were beaten in the dance-off by singer Toyah Willcox and her partner Neil Jones.

Dean, 24, said the dance rehearsals were “full on” but he loved his time on the show and “would have loved to stay in for a little bit longer”.

Comparing it to Olympic training, he said: “Physically, that’s a lot more hours and a lot more to remember. Obviously, with swimming, at least I know what I’m doing.”

Asked if he believed being on Strictly is as hard as being in the Olympics, he said: “Mentally definitely.

“Everything about it, all the prep. And then actually on performance day and they go ‘You are going live in 10, nine’ – that gets you.”

He hailed Bychkova as an “incredible teacher” who drilled the routine in to him before the shows by doing 30 repetitions of the dance, joking: “I thought I was on my break from Olympic training but it felt like I was right back in it.”

He added: “The work is full on. It is a lot of hours and it’s a lot to remember as well. Physically, it’s a lot but also it’s all the steps.

“I loved it. I had a great time. I genuinely, really loved all parts of it.

“Would have loved to stay in for a little bit longer, of course, but it does give me a lot more time to really throw myself into the Tom Dean Swim Schools.”

The three-time Olympic swimming champion has launched his Tom Dean Swim School project this week which aims to keep swimming easily accessible in local communities.

The programme has partnered with The Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales to deliver 1,000 free learn-to-swim programmes to children from under-served areas next year.

The swim schools also plan to partner with community pools across the country to deliver sessions to more than 12,000 people by the end of the year.

“For me, it’s not even about the next Olympian or really professional swimmers, it’s trying to get as many kids into sport and be water safe, and that’s the most important thing,” Dean said.

He started working on the idea following the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after people reached out to him wanting to get their children into swimming, but there was not enough accessible facilities.

Dean explained these issues have arisen from leisure centres struggling for various reasons including energy costs, while schools are finding it tougher to get to lessons as budgets are being squeezed.

The swimmer plans to get his level one teaching qualification so he can get involved in the swim lessons while he has a break from training ahead of the Los Angeles Games in 2028.

“To be able to do this and to have the Swim School going while I’m still representing my country at LA is incredible,” he said.

“And I want to be involved in the lessons, I want to do as much as I can while I’m still on a bit of a break right now so I’m throwing myself into this.”

Dean won the men’s 200m freestyle title at Tokyo 2020 and earlier this year the 24-year-old, plus James Guy, Matt Richards and Duncan Scott, made history in the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay final.

In winning gold, they became the first swimming team to defend an Olympic relay title with the same quartet.