Being asked to drape his Olympic gold medal over the neck of a Jack Russell by an exuberant owner is one of the more surreal moments Tom Dean faced after the last Games.
By his reckoning, it was the only time he refused a request in the post-Olympic haze of Tokyo where he went from a virtual nobody to being stopped wherever he went on his return as a two-time champion.
The recognition was further boosted by chaotic but eye-catching family and friend celebrations in Maidenhead that were played out on the BBC.
Dean seemed to take it all in his stride at a Games where Covid twice nearly derailed his ambitions of competing there, going on to win 200m freestyle gold and another in the team relay.
“I remember at one point my coach said that if I even make it to the start line, ‘I’ll eat my hat’,” he said of a tumultuous lead-in.
The build-up to Paris has not quite had the same perils, although he will not defend his individual title, having missed out to team-mates Duncan Scott and Matt Richards at the Olympic trials. But he has qualified for the 200m individual medley and will be a key facet in the relay once more.
“It’s tough when it comes down to one race and a few hundredths of a second,” he said, reflecting on the British Championships. “I’d consistently been on the podium every year and, on the day, slightly misjudged my race tactics and won’t be able to defend my Olympic title.
“That’s brutal and it took a bit of a reset, but I’m okay now, I know what I’m going after and medals remain the focus.”
In Tokyo, he pipped Scott to gold in the 200m freestyle by a whisker, and the two are expected to be closely matched in the individual medley.
Despite the rivalry, Dean, 24, said: “We get on really well and message a lot. We end up doing the same events at every domestic and international meet. We spend a lot of time together and often room together, so we know each other pretty well.
“It takes nothing from our friendship, but he’s a cut-throat athlete and will do whatever it takes to hit the wall first. Amid all that, the friendship never changes, we never fall out, but the pursuit and hunger is always there.”
The only fall-outs that might ever materialise are on the golf course, where their combined performances are infinitely less world-class.
I remember at one point my coach said that if I even make it to the start line, ‘I’ll eat my hat’
Three years his senior and with six Olympic medals to his name, Scott remains an inspiration to Dean, so too Adam Peaty, although not for the reasons you might think.
Peaty is bidding for a hat-trick of Olympic titles in the 100m breaststroke and, while impressed by his exploits in the water, Dean has been more blown away by his actions out of it.
Peaty has made no secret of his personal turmoil since Tokyo, the breakdown of the relationship with the mother of his son, depression and a reliance on alcohol.
“As I’ve got older as an athlete, I’ve understood more the toll that takes on you, trying for years to stay on the podium,” he said. “He needed to take a break, to twice miss the Worlds, but then come back as strong as I’ve ever seen him. That’s what inspires me more as an athlete.”
Britain enjoyed their best ever Olympic performance in the pool in Tokyo, and Dean believes they will continue to be a force to be reckoned with alongside the more traditional powerhouses of the US and Australia.
“It was almost like a gold rush,” said Dean of three years ago. “And it’s set us on a trajectory to keep pursuing medals and going after it. And other countries have to take note of us now, we’re not like just one stand-out swimmer, but multiple forces.
“The team’s in good shape and, as for me, I’m doing times in training I’d not done before.”
