Born and raised in Dunedin, Caitlin Deans began competitive swimming at 9 years old and has since, under 2 clubs - Waves (under Andy Adair) and her current club, Neptune (initially under Gennadiy Labara, now Lars Humer and Kurt Crosland). 

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Caitlin has competed internationally in Australia, America, Papua New Guinea (Oceania Championships), China (2018 World Short Course Championships), Europe (Mare Nostrum and 2022 World Aquatics Championships). 

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At the end of 2022 she competed at the World Aquatics Short Course Championships in Melbourne Australia, where the Otago based swimmer took a mammoth 14 seconds off her personal best, finishing the 1500m freestyle final in 15:51.98 helping her claim fifth place.

The race was Deans’ first 1500m freestyle under 16min and broke the Otago open record she set at the New Zealand short-course championships earlier this year. During the race, she also broke her 800m freestyle personal best with her time of 8:26.14.

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Deans swam on the 4x200 Freestyle relay in Budapest, Hungary at the World Aquatic Swimming Championships 2022, where they ultimately placed 7th in the final.

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Deans is currently in her 5th and final year of part time study completing a Bachelor of Science majoring in physiology at Otago University. She also teaches labs at Otago in the Physiology and the Sport and exercise department. She is hoping to further her studies in the health sciences field post-swimming.