Olympic Gold Medallist Tom Dean Launches UK Wide Swimming Initiative for Underprivileged Children

Olympic gold medallist Tom Dean MBE has launched a new swimming scheme in partnership with The Royal Foundation of the Prince and Princess of Wales to provide learn-to-swim packages to over 1,000 children from deprived or under-resourced areas across the UK. This initiative aims to address the concerning statistic that nearly one in three children leave primary education unable to swim, a situation exacerbated by factors such as pool closures and rising costs. Dean emphasized the life-saving importance of swimming skills, highlighting the doubling of child drowning deaths in recent years. The scheme builds on community efforts like the reopening of Birtley Community Pool, which Dean has personally supported. In addition to his community work, Dean recently joined the high-performance swim programme at the University of Stirling, aiming to continue his elite career alongside fellow Olympic champions. This move follows his successful tenure at Bath Performance Centre and reflects his ambitions for future Commonwealth and Olympic Games.