On his LinkedIn page, the man widely expected to be the BBC's new Director General describes himself as a "gap year student, part time athlete". Matt Brittin has been enjoying what he described as a "mini gap year" since the end of 2024 when he left his role as President of Google in Europe, the Middle East and Africa after nearly 20 years at the big tech company. At the time, the former Great Britain World Rowing champion who worked briefly for Trinity Mirror (now the newsbrand Reach) and joined the board of the Guardian Media Group in 2025 wrote "I've already grown a beard, bought a single sculling boat and plan to learn scuba diving". When he is confirmed as director general in the coming days, he'll have arguably the most scrutinised job in British media and, if the experience of most of his predecessors is anything to go by, he'll need more than a tankful of air to survive what's to come. Sometimes he'll probably wish he was still off swimming with sharks.…