OLYMPIC swimmer Tom Dean will go directly from winning gold in Paris to competing for the Strictly Come Dancing glitterball.
The 24-year-old pool star was part of the British relay team which won the 4x200m men’s freestyle on Tuesday night.
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And after the games have ended he will hotfoot it straight back to London to start rehearsals for the dance show, which kicks off next month.
He is the latest in a string of top-level swimmers to take part in the BBC dance contest.
A TV insider said: “It’s quite a coup for the producers to bag an Olympian fresh from winning gold in Paris, and swimmers have been shown to be great contestants.
“They tend to be a sensation as a result of their fitness, competitiveness and sheer determination to win — and Tom will still be pumped from his victory in France.
“He doesn’t quite have the same profile as other top-level swimmers yet but that’s likely to drastically change after his time on Strictly.”
Tom, from Maidenhead, Berks, won two golds in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 200m freestyle and the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay.
At the time, he was the first male British swimmer to win two gold Olympic medals at the same games in 113 years and was made an MBE in the 2022 New Year Honours.
Winning the relay on Tuesday night was another incredible achievement for Tom and his Team GB comrades — Duncan Scott, James Guy and Matthew Richards.
They were the first British team to have defended an Olympic relay title in swimming or athletics.
Tom is the latest swimmer to sign up for Strictly, with previous names including Adam Peaty in 2021 — who scooped a silver medal in the Paris games on Sunday night — as well as Mark Foster in 2008 and Ellie Simmonds in 2022.
The Sun exclusively revealed this week that former Arsenal and England footballer Paul Merson had joined the line-up for the dance show, along with deaf Love Island model, Tasha Ghouri.
Other celebrities taking part include blind comedian Chris McCausland, EastEnders star Jamie Borthwick, reality TV star Pete Wicks and DIY SOS host Nick Knowles.
Unlike other celebs who go on Strictly, tall Tom will not have any problem wearing revealing outfits or going topless when certain routines require it.
Being a super-fit swimmer has made him comfortable wearing as little clothing as possible.
It could also give him the upper hand with the hours of demanding training and energetic dance routines required by the show.
In a previous interview, he said: “It’s funny, Speedos don’t really cover much. There’s not much left to the imagination at that point.
“That’s completely fine for me but for some people, it does make them more body conscious.”
Tom, who also played rugby and football growing up, is 6ft 4in tall, which means he could end up getting paired with one of the tallest female professional dancers on Strictly — Ukrainian Nadiya Bychkova, who is almost 6ft in heels.
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