Four Stirling swimmers have been selected to represent Britain at the World Aquatic Championships later this year.
Duncan Scott, Aimee Willmott, Ross Murdoch and Scott McLay will be part of the 25-strong British team flying to Gwangju, South Korea, for a fortnight of competition against the world’s best.
Credit: scottishstudentsport.com
Scott is no stranger to success in the pool, after claiming Commonwealth gold in 2018 in the 100m freestyle event.
As defending champion, he will be looking to capitalise on his success from the 2017 World Championships, where he won gold in the 4 x 200m relay.
Ross Murdoch, 25, and Aimee Willmott, 26, will travel to the championships as two of the team’s most experienced members, having represented Great Britain at the Olympic Games in 2016.
This year’s team boasts a combination of experience and youth, with 19 year old Scott McLay making his senior international debut.
He said: “I’m over the moon! This was one of my targets at the beginning of the season and the fact I’ve been able to achieve that shows that my hard work in the pool has paid off.”
McLay aims to produce some personal best performances, and is confident that the work he is putting into training will carry forward to 2020.
University of Stirling’s head performance swimming coach, Steven Tigg, will also travel with the British team as one of six coaches, which will be an advantage for the Stirling scholars.
Gwangju will give the Stirling swimmers the perfect chance to show that they can rival the best in the world on an international stage.
With the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games just around the corner, all eyes will be on the athletes to see who can perform under pressure, in advance of the selection process.
National Performance Director for British Swimming, Chris Spice, was satisfied with what he saw at the British Championships in Glasgow, which acted in part as a selection meet for Gwangju.
He said: “We saw some exceptional individual performances from our established group of senior swimmers.”
Spice gave particular recognition to six swimmers, including Stirling’s own Duncan Scott and Ross Murdoch, who “continued to show their class.”
He added: “As we look towards Tokyo, the challenge now for the whole team is to swim a season’s best under the spotlights in Gwanju.”
All athletes and coaches will head to a preparation camp in June. The British team have also secured a holding camp in Yokohoma, for final preparation before World’s.
It is now crunch time for the athletes with less than three months till the competition gets underway. Commitment is essential, both in and out of the pool, in order to achieve the best chance of global success.
Fourth-year BA (Hons) Journalism Studies student.
News Editor, Sports Editor and Head of Proofreading for Brig Newspaper.
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