Olympian urging young people to get vaccinated
Swimming: Olympic champion Dean says virus left him ‘bedbound and wheezing’
Maidenhead’s double Olympic swimming champion, Tom Dean is encouraging young people to get vaccinated after twice contracting the virus while preparing for the Tokyo Games.
The 21-year-old claimed gold in the 200m freestyle from compatriot Duncan Scott and was back in the pool a couple of days later to win his second gold medal with the 4x200m freestyle relay team.
However, his incredible success at his first ever Olympic Games wasn’t necessarily expected after his training plans were disrupted twice by catching COVID-19. At one stage he feared for his place on the GB Team as the virus left him ‘bedbound’ and unable to climb the stairs ‘without coughing and wheezing’. He lost up to six weeks of training in all but was able to get back to peak shape in time for the Games.
The University of Bath student is now double jabbed and is urging the general population to do likewise as a ‘high uptake across the board’ will increase the chances of finally defeating the virus.
“I was actually in isolation around this time last year,” he told BBC Berkshire. “In swimming if you take one day out of the pool, it takes two days to get back to where you were. It set me back a lot, and then I unfortunately got a second bout of COVID around the New Year time, and I had to take another isolation period, and then you have to do a slow build back into training.
“So, around January this year I thought I wasn’t even going to make the Olympics. I was bedbound for 10 days basically and, when you do a sport that relies so heavily on the cardiovascular system, your heart and lungs, I was coughing and wheezing going up the stairs and stuff and I was starting to question whether I’d be able to get back to the fitness levels that are required for this sport.
“I think the way vaccines work is that they require a high uptake across the board, so, it’s not just about protecting yourself. For all young people, not just sportspeople, it’s so, so important. Keeping fit and healthy is my job and it hit me really hard so, for the general population it’s so important that they get protected.”
W Following 18 months of COVID restrictions, Maidenhead Marlins held their first major competition at the Braywick Leisure Centre this weekend.
It proved a fantastic return to competitive action for the Marlins, who won the Arena League Round 1 meet by 26 points from nearest challengers Littlehampton.
The club’s swimmers have had little chance to test themselves against the best clubs and swimmers in the region due to COVID restrictions, but this was a very welcome return to competitive action.
The Marlins won the event with 185 points from Littlehampton (159) in second and Bournemouth (149) in third. Windsor finished fourth on 148 points, with Epsom (122) and Eastleigh (118) in fifth and sixth position.
Club coach Chris Ashford said: “Well done to everyone who represented the club in the Arena League Round 1 at Braywick Park on Saturday evening.
“A fantastic return to competition post restrictions.
“The swimmers acquitted themselves superbly in the pool as well as generating a fantastic team spirit on pool deck supporting each other all evening.
“It was pleasing to have team competitions back and rewarding to see the swimmers relishing the opportunity to compete.
“A huge thank you to our team of fantastic volunteers who worked so hard to ensure a well-managed evening delivered so professionally.”