Maidenhead's Tom Dean believes the calibre of Australia's Olympic swimming trials is worlds away from Britain's dominant freestyle machine.

The two-time Olympic champion is just one of four men who dipped under one minute and 46 seconds in the 200m freestyle final at the 2024 Aquatics GB Swimming Championships, joined by Matt Richards, Duncan Scott, and James Guy.

It's a tale that swimming fans have long come to expect, with Britain commanding the men's individual 200m and 4x200m relay in all competitions over the past couple of years.

And with the recent Australian trials visibly lacking in the event, with only Maxim Giuliani dipping under 1:46.00 and by nature the Olympic qualification time in Brisbane, the results bode well in Dean's eyes as he and his Team GB teammates set their sights set on successfully defending their Olympic title at Paris 2024 this summer.

"We are the defending Olympic champions, we won the world championships last year and we have been knocking on the door of the world record for the past few years," said Dean.

"Even the British trials, you had to swim such a fast time just to get into the top two, it shows how strong our 4x200m is.

"We have been keeping an eye on the other countries, it was the Aussie trials the other day and it is just worlds apart from us.

"The calibre of Great Britain and Team GB with myself, James, Duncan and Matt I think is the best in the world."

Dean is one of over 1,000 elite athletes on UK Sport’s National Lottery-funded World Class Programme, allowing them to train full time, have access to the world’s best coaches and benefit from pioneering medical support – this is vital for his pathway to the Paris 2024 Games.

Despite their strength on paper and in the pool, Dean is quick not to already hang gold medals around the necks of his teammates.

With just over a month to go until the Games get underway, there is still plenty of time for the Australian contingent to up their game whilst the USA are a dominant force across the pond.

Elsewhere, in the individual event, the ever-present David Popovici of Romania swam a 1:44.74 at the recent Mare Nostrum swim tour whilst Germany's Lukas Martens dropped a staggering 1:44.14 earlier this year.

Simply put by Dean: "It is never nailed on. That is the nature of sport, you must deliver on the day.

"We have got some other great freestylers that are going to be swimming in the heats and maybe in the finals, so it depends on the day and how people are doing.

"The confidence we take as a team off the back of the Olympic Games in Tokyo and the World Championships means we are really, really confident but you can never take anything for granted."

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