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Who is Dean Boxall? Aussie swim coach celebrating Katie Ledecky's defeat at Olympics goes viral

'He means everything to me,' 20-year-old gold medallist Ariarne Titmus said about her coach Dean Boxall after defeating five-time champion Katie Ledecky

Australia's Ariarne Titmus beat US swimmer and top medal contender Katie Ledecky at the 400-meter freestyle in Tokyo Olympics, but it is Titmus' coach Dean Boxall who stole the show. As the 20-year-old Aussie swimmer secured the gold medal after defeating five-time Olympic champion Ledecky, her coach broke into a visibly wild celebration from the gallery. Boxall was caught on camera ripping off his mask and pumping his fist in the air as Titmus beat her long-time rival. Even a security official from the venue failed to calm him down. 

Titmus won the gold with a record second-fastest time in the history of the event, edging 24-year-old favorite Ledecky by a margin of 0.67 seconds. While Titmus clocked a time of 3:56.69, Ledecky followed a close second with 3:57.36. The bronze was taken by Chinese swimmer BJ Li who clocked a time of 4:01.08. While Americans were disheartened about Ledecky missing gold by the hair, they were completely won over by Boxall's epic reaction. "If Katie Ledecky had to be beat by Ariarne Titmus in the 400m free, at least we got this out of it," TV Guide editor Mandi Bierly tweeted with a video of Boxall's reaction. 

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Who is Dean Boxall?

"He's the kind of guy who does wear his heart on his sleeve," legendary swimmer Ian Thorpe said about Boxall during the commentary at the event. True to Thorpe's remark, the dedicated coach was found to be in tears by the time Titmus walked on the podium. "It was actually hard to contain it. I could see Dean on the other side bawling his eyes out," she later said, adding, "He means everything to me. We didn’t discuss what I wanted to do in the pool. It was more of a have fun moment. We practiced this for so long. I just knew what I had to do when I got out there.”

The head coach of Queensland was recently honored with the title of 'Australian Age and Youth Coach of The Year 2020' at the ASCTA Awards. The year before, he was also named the Australian Coach of the Year. The 43-year-old was born in South Africa but moved to Australia with his family in childhood. For over 20 years, he had ruled the waters with stunning performances, before being appointed the head coach of St Peters Western program in Brisbane. 

According to Celebpie, Boxall reportedly earns around $80,000 AUD as a professional coach. However, it might not be wrong to predict that Titmus' gold medal win can work wonders for his fortune. He is believed to be a devoted coach to Titmus and her teammates representing their country at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. Ledecky herself was all praises for her opponent's stellar performance. After bagging the silver medal, she said, "I looked up at 300 meters and she was right there so I knew it would be a battle to the end. I didn’t feel like I died or really fell off. She just had a faster final 50m or 75m and got her hand to the wall first.” She also complimented Titmus on her "really smart" game plan.

Meanwhile, the internet went bonkers at Boxall's jaw-dropping reaction, as social media users continued retweeting the video clip of the same. "For those of you new to the world of Dean Boxall - this was him just last month at the Australian #swimming trials," Queensland journalist Veronica Eggleton tweeted another video of an overtly excited Boxall. Another user tweeted, "Unbelievable really. Was wondering why my TV had switched to a replay of Wrestlemania 6 before realising it was just Dean Boxall and not The Ultimate Warrior." "You are lucky if you get a mentor who is that passionate about your success…We all need a #deanboxall in our lives," wrote Business Line editor Meenakshi Ambwani.