Olympic swimming: Great Britain retain relay title to win first swimming gold in Paris

Men’s freestyle is Britain’s great strength in swimming.

The winning quartet have all won world or Olympic gold in the individual 200m freestyle.

They are huge rivals for those solo places but also great friends and will all be present when Richards marries fellow GB swimmer Emily Large next month.

With Richards – who earlier missed out on reaching the 100m freestyle final 90 minutes before the final – and Scott having gruelling schedules, they were rested for the heats but came in for the final two legs.

Guy gave the team a flying start. He is supposedly the weakest freestyler but built a lead over American Luke Hobson, who won bronze in the individual event on Monday.

With USA and France in the race, the noise levels were high. Dean – the 200m individual champion from 2021, who did not qualify here because of Richards and Scott – lost the lead momentarily but came strong in his final length.

Richards stretched the lead again to hand Scott the advantage, and he was never going to be caught. USA finished behind for silver while Australia took bronze.

“There are so many great individuals in that team but when we come together it is so special,” Scott said of the quartet, who also won World Championship gold in 2023.

“It fills you with confidence going up in the block with those guys.

“I am standing behind an Olympic champion, a world champion and a world champion. I’m thinking, ‘I am in a pretty good place’.”

Scott now has seven Olympic medals including two golds, with only former cyclists Sir Jason Kenny and Sir Bradley Wiggins ahead of him in terms of total medals on the British list.

Dean now has three Olympic golds, and his fellow Englishman Guy – GB’s ever-reliable relay specialist – has three golds and three silvers, all of them part of a quartet.