Tom Dean became the first British male swimmer in 113 years to win more than one gold medal at a single Olympics after Team GB won gold in the 4×200 metres freestyle relay final.

The 21-year-old, along with James Guy, 25, Matthew Richards, 18, and Duncan Scott, 24, clocked a time of six minutes and 58.58 seconds – 0.03 seconds off a world record time.

They saw off the Russian Olympic Committee and Australia to secure Team GB’s third swimming gold of Tokyo 2020.

It came after Dean, who had a second bout of coronavirus six months ago, won the men’s 200m freestyle 24 hours earlier, beat teammate Scott by 0.04 seconds.

Dean told the BBC: “I can’t even put it into words. I couldn’t yesterday and I can’t today. I can’t thank these boys enough, from the bottom of my heart. Unreal.”

Dean is therefore the only British male swimmer to claim two golds at the same Games in more than a century, following in the footsteps of Henry Taylor, who prevailed in the men’s freestyle 400m and 1500m races in 1908.

Dean started the race and actually performed the slowest of the British quartet, with a time of 1min 45.72secs putting them behind the Russian Olympic Committee and the United States after the first 200m.

Scott, whose runner-up finish behind Dean on Tuesday meant he collected his third Olympic silver, then brought it home in emphatic fashion with 1:43.45 as Britain finished more than three seconds ahead of the second-placed and just 0.03secs off a world record time.

Scott told the BBC: “It’s really special with these boys. Matt in third was so composed and the boys up front executed their race plans really well. So close to a world record in the end – if anything I’m a bit gutted!”

Scott and Guy were part of the team that won silver in the event in 2016, and the latter added: “As a kid winning an Olympic gold medal was my absolute dream and to do it finally after 25 years is pretty emotional.”

For 18-year-old Richards, it was his first taste of an Olympic Games, and he said: “When you’re racing with guys like this, having a great leg comes easy.

"When they set you up as well as they did and you’ve got literally one of the best freestylers in the world and one of the best freestylers ever going behind you, (it’s a) privilege. And the confidence that gives someone, and the experience, money can’t buy it.”

As of 28 July, Great Britain now sits in sixth place in the Tokyo leadership table with 15 medals: 5 gold, 6 silver and 4 bronze.