With three years to go until the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, British champion Tom Dean has announced a change in training base and coaches.
25-year-old Dean has revealed on social media that he will be leaving Bath and coach Dave McNulty to now call the Stirling Training Centre home.
“After seven incredible years, my time at Bath has come to an end,” the three-time Olympic gold medalist stated.
“I want to thank the whole team and all my teammates for their support over the years. Most importantly I want to thank my coach Dave who has always been so much more than a coach to me. Together, we achieved more than I ever thought possible.”
Dean concluded, “I’m looking forward to starting a new chapter at the Stirling Training Centre next month as we gear towards Los Angeles 2028 🇬🇧”
Dean now joins the likes of Duncan Scott, Scotland’s most decorated Olympian, European Championships medalist Katie Shanahan, breaststroke ace Angharad Evans and fellow Olympian Freya Anderson.
24-year-old Anderson also made the move from Bath to Stirling recently. Anderson had been at Bath since 2020 but changed up to Stirling earlier this year in the run-up to the World Championships.
Great Britain had a relatively disappointing 2025 World Championships, collecting just two medals in total after having earned seven in Doha last year and eight in Fukoka in 2023.
In Singapore last month, Ben Proud claimed 50m free silver for GBR while the men’s 4x200m free relay earned the gold. Dean was a prelims swimmer on that relay but was replaced by Jack McMillan in the final. McMillan also trains at Stirling, whose coaching staff includes Brad Hay and Ben Higson.
Higson replaced storied coach Steven Tigg, who last year was named the new Aquatics GB Swimming Head Coach. Higson had coached at Stirling from 2013-2017 before spending four years as Swim Ireland’s national head coach followed by a stint as head coach at the Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) swimming program.
Time for Tom Dean to train with Bob Bowman.
Pancake in Strling?
Cringe photo dump.
We get it bud, you got abs.
Jealous much?
Is Stirling as reliable now and is it too late for Dean?
Time will tell on both fronts, but their results in Singapore weren’t particularly encouraging.
stirling had an amazing performance at the british trials ( most of the squad) as well as a promising trajectory at the AP international; then they went to a training camp in thailand…
Well let’s hope a full winter helps with both Tom and Freya.
He’s cooked
He was so consistent 2021-23 and then had a rough couple of years. Hope he can get back to his best for both our freestyle relays although that being said the same move doesn’t seem to have improved Freya Anderson’s trajectory.
Another one, thank you.