JAMES Guy insists there’s plenty of fuel left in the tank of British Swimming’s golden generation after a stunning performance in Tokyo.  

The 25-year-old from Bury racked up a hat-trick of medals in Japan, including golds in the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay – alongside Tom Dean, Duncan Scott, and Matt Richards – and the mixed 4x100m medley relay.  

Team GB’s 4x200m freestyle relay won an emphatic victory in the final with a time of 6:58:58, just 0.03 seconds off the world record, and Guy believes he and his teammates have an opportunity to repeat that feat at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.  

He spoke at the Olympic Stadium after attending ‘I Am Team GB’s’ ‘Festival of Sport’, an event organised by Team GB and Toyota offering free and fun sporting activities to help people get active alongside their Olympic heroes.  

“My best friend is the Olympic Champion in the 100m breaststroke, Duncan, Matt, and Tom are all great friends of mine as well,” said Guy.  

“We’re all great mates, so to be part of this group with those lads, I don’t think it’ll ever happen again.  

“We’ve got a brotherhood, we know how we swim, and we know how we are as friends, but once it’s gone, it’s gone, and I think it’ll be very hard to find it again.  

“I think we’ve got a good couple of years left yet, Paris will be a good one, and we’ll take things from there.  

“We had these three words out in Tokyo, could’ve, should’ve, would’ve, and it’s about living in the present, where we are now.”  

There were free hero events at the Olympic Stadium, the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, plus a family fun day at Paulton Park, the home of Team GB’s newest recruit Peppa Pig, while other events took place all over the country on August 14 and 15. 

The event at the Olympic Stadium in Stratford started with a ‘Lap of Honour’ around the London Stadium within the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, followed by activities delivered from the main stage by local clubs, NGBs and other activity providers. 

Guy added: “I’ve been at ‘I Am Team GB’s’ ‘Festival of Sport’ before, listening to people talk about and show off different sports, I was lucky enough to try everything as a kid, so it’s really important.  

“I got to try hockey, football, rugby, gymnastics, and then I tried swimming and loved the sport, but I tried everything, and here I am today.  

“London was a long time ago, and the way we’ve moved on since then as a swimming team is unbelievable, but we need the next generation to come through because we can’t do this forever and these kids who are out there enjoying themselves are the next generation.”  

I Am Team GB is already a much-loved and successful mass participation event, having seen over one million people in the UK take part after the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and welcome home the country’s history making athletes at their local sports clubs and community events. 

Team GB Commercial Director, Tim Ellerton, added: “We are really excited to have launched I Am Team GB. With the support of our presenting partner Toyota, we created a host of free events up and down the country for those inspired by the Olympics to get up and active this summer, with a festival of sport on August 14 and 15.” 

The ‘Festival of Sport’ harnessed the incredible stories of Team GB athletes in Tokyo to inspire men and women, boys, and girls across the UK to ‘Get Up and Get Active’ at free and fun events held around the country across the weekend of August 14 and 15. 

Tom Whiteside, Sponsorship Manager for Toyota said: “Toyota is all about promoting mobility, so to activate our sponsorship of Team GB we wanted to create something in partnership that enabled us to take the magic of the Olympics and inspire people to get up and get active, irrespective of age, experience or skill level and I Am Team GB gives us the perfect opportunity for us to do just that and we have more exciting activations to announce over the course of the campaign.” 

If you want to get involved, go to IAmTeamGB.com to find an event near you