Also named on the team are Litchfield brothers Joe and Max, 400m Individual Medley specialist Aimee Willmott – for who it will be her third Games – and Alys Thomas, the Swansea-based butterfly swimmer making her long-awaited Olympic debut at the age of 30. Team GB Chef de Mission for Tokyo 2020, Mark England, commented:

On the former, Dearing experienced the holy grail of competing at an Olympic Games, becoming the first black British female swimmer to do so, coming 19th in the marathon discipline at Tokyo 2020.

Charlotte Dujardin won dressage bronze to become the most decorated British female Olympian, as Team GB's swimmers secured gold to take Britain's medal tally to 16 on day five in Tokyo.

“It’s such a great opportunity to showcase the expertise that is in swimming across the Black community.” As the only Black person on the British Swimming team, Dearing has sought inspiration from American Olympic gold medalists Cullen Jones and Simone Manuel and Jamaican Olympian Alia Atkinson.