The parents of Madeleine McCann cheered on as their son, Sean, reached the 400m freestyle final on his Commonwealth Games debut for Scotland.
The 21-year-old, who is a student at Loughborough University, was given a huge roar when he was announced to the crowd and swam creditably to finish fourth in a heat where Northern Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen finished second.
That meant McCann qualified eighth for Saturday evening’s final and McCann expressed his pride – and surprise – at his performance. “I’m buzzing,” he said.
“It wasn’t really an expectation coming in, especially with how strong the field was, but I’m delighted to see I made it. I wouldn’t say I felt the pressure, but I was certainly nervous with so many people watching and I wanted to do well not only for myself, but Team Scotland as well.
RM Block
“I was definitely nervous, but I’m glad I produced a decent swim. The crowd was amazing, I could hear them the whole way through the race. They spurred me on to really give it my all down that last 100m.”
McCann grew up in England, but qualifies for Scotland through his father, Gerry, who was at the Tollcross Swimming Centre, as was his mother, Kate, to support their son. He and his twin sister, Amelie, were two years old when Madeleine, then aged three, went missing during a family holiday in Praia Da Luz, Portugal, in 2007.
McCann started swimming at Charnwood Triathlon Club when he was eight and by the age of 10 had joined the high-performance City of Leicester club. He has been part of the Scottish swimming programme since his teens.
Asked about his motivation for wanting to swim, he said: “From a young age I really enjoyed competing. That makes all the hard hours in training worth it, coming out here in front of a crowd like this and swimming as well as I can.”
McCann is studying chemical engineering at Loughborough, where he is coached by Andi Manley, who is leading the England team in Glasgow. He will also compete in the 800m and 1500m freestyle and hopes it will be a launchpad to becoming an Olympian at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
“The Olympics is always that step even further so to be able to represent Scotland here is a good stepping stone,” he said. “Hopefully a couple of years of work will put my name in the mix.”
McCann swam a time of 3:52.65 in a heat won by Australia’s Benjamin Goedemans in 3:46.87. That was narrowly quicker than Olympic 800m freestyle champion Wiffen, with the Paris 2024 400m freestyle silver medallist, Elijah Winnington, taking third.
Another Australian, Sam Short, the 2023 world 400m freestyle champion, qualified fastest for the final, which will take place at 7.05pm on Saturday, in 3:46.23. – Guardian
