Swimmer Tom Dean wins gold and silver for GB

In-form Tom Dean won a gold and a silver medal for Team England at the Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas to help them finish top of the medal table.

Maidenhead swimmer Dean secured the 200m individual medley title by sticking to his plan of starting strongly and maintaining his speed.

“I knew I had a bit more to give in the race today after the heats,” he said on Friday last week.

“I went out a bit harder and I knew I would have the fitness to bring it back.

“I got the rate up on the breaststroke and tried not to let anyone catch me on the freestyle.”

Assessing the efforts of the swimming team overall, the Maidenhead Marlins swimmer added: “It was a really good team effort.

“We won five golds and the relay was also great to wrap it up.”

“We got quite a few silvers yesterday and that really spurred the team on today, particularly yesterday’s relay [mixed 4x100m freestyle].

“It was a combination of factors, but the whole team dynamic definitely played a part.”

Dean, 16, also picked up silver in the 400m individual medley.

The Commonwealth Youth Games is a multi-sport competition for athletes aged 14 to 18.

Overall, Team England topped this year’s table with 51 medals – of which 23 were gold – beating the total of 44 won in Samoa two years ago.

Australia were second and New Zealand third.

The next Games will be held in Belfast in 2021.