Olympic champion Tom Dean took an impressive third place in the final of the Men’s 200m Freestyle, as the curtain was brought down on what was a productive FINA World Swimming Championships (25m) for members of the Great Britain team.
After qualifying in first place with a comfortable swim, Dean lined up in lane four for the final at Melbourne's Sports and Aquatic Centre, where he kept with the leading pace down the first hundred meters, before a breathtaking charge from South Korea’s Hwang Sun-Woo from the outside lane saw him take the win, with Dean finishing in a personal best time, just behind World champion Popovici to take the bronze medal.
Dean's bronze adds to the four medals he has won in this event over the past two years, with his Olympic gold from 2021 and World Championship (50m) bronze from the summer, alongside his Commonwealth silver medal at Birmingham 2022, completing the haul for the 22 year-old.
Speaking to World Aquatics reporter Nick Hope after his swim, Dean was delighted with getting on to the podium.
"I'm really happy with the bronze. The 200m is always an interesting one because short course and long course are like different sports, you've got to be so upbeat and attack it from the start.
"I was racing someone I couldn’t see, so it’s hard and tactical but the bronze medal I’m really chuffed because I’ve now got an individual international medal at every major competition and that was always in the back of my mind as something that would be cool to do. It’s something I’m proud I’m capable of, so very happy.”
Olympic medallist Luke Greenbank was also in individual action, as he went in lane seven for the final of the Men’s 200m Backstroke, following a solid sixth place finish in the heats.
It was a similar story in the final for the 25 year-old, as he went one better from his heat to final swim; his initial sixth place was maintained down the first half of the race before a temporary drop to seventh preceded what was a spectacular charge down the final 50 metres, which saw him match the leaders for pace and finish fifth.
Meanwhile Imogen Clark went in lane two of the Women's 50m Breaststroke final, and produced a solid swim following
what was an impressive semi-final. Having broken the British Record in that
swim yesterday, Clark was in good form again; staying with the pack down the
first 25 metres, before touching in sixth place following a battle with the chasing
group, which ran right through the course of the race.
Adam Peaty was tasked with making something happen from lane one in the respective men's contest. Following his bronze medal in the 100 metre event earlier in the week, the triple Olympic champion kept with his trend of going better through the latter stages of the race, as he recovered from a start which saw him at the back of the field at the halfway point, to then be gaining on the leaders by the end – as he finished in sixth place.
Dean’s swim was the final race for Great Britain at the championships, with a total of four medals being won through the week – as the Bath man’s bronze comes after a 50m Freestyle silver and bronze for Ben Proud and Anna Hopkin respectively, and Peaty’s afformentioned bronze in the 100m Breaststroke.
For the full results from the week click here, with full playback of live streams available on the World Aquatics YouTube Channel.