THE all-star cast of world swimming, surrounding him on all sides, flexed their muscles menacingly. But when it came to a show of strength in the Optus Aquatics Centre yesterday, Duncan Scott had no problems holding his own. Instead he simply hinted about his potential to become a leading man in his own right in the future.
The 20-year-old from Alloa ended the day with two Commonwealth bronze medals draped around his neck, the first coming from a seriously stacked 200m freestyle which was eventually taken by home favourite Kyle Chalmers in 1:45.56, with his countryman Mack Horton, the winner of the 400m prize on the opening day, stealing second from lane one.
That meant Scott having to settle for third in a time of 1:46.30 but considering such luminaries as South Africa’s Chad Le Clos and England’s James Guy were some distance in his wake, that was no mean achievement in what was his first individual entry for Scotland at the Commonwealth Games.
Much like day one, gold continued to narrowly elude the Scots in the pool yesterday but thankfully the steady trickle of silverware also shows no signs of abating. Two medals down from his two events so far, the sinewy Scott could have as many as five chances to expand on his tally still to come.
Mark Szaranek, a close runner up to Clyde Lewis in the 400m individual medley, still has the 200m individual medley – which he regards as his best event.
“When you’re out there, you forget about who you’re surrounded by,” said Scott. “You just get on your own race and let the crowd stir you up. But full credit to the two Aussies, they really stepped up, delivered PB performances and that’s what it takes to win medals.
“I don’t go into many races believing that I can’t win,” said Scott. “So to come away not winning, I have mixed emotions. It’s my first individual medal on a big stage so that alone is a massive positive.”
It was quite a race, but it said something for Scott that all he wanted to talk about afterwards was his second medal of the day, the bronze he won in the company of Kieran McGuckin, Jack Thorpe and Steven Milne in the 4x100m medley relay. It was their first ever in that event, for which Craig McLean, Scott McLay and Dan Wallace will also earn a medal, while their time of 3:15.86 lowered their own Scottish record which they swam in the heats.
“We swam exceptionally well there,” said Scott, who led Scotland into an early lead, having got the nod as one of the three substitutes for the evening final. “It is the first ever time Scotland has got a medal in that event so that speaks volumes for what we feel about it.
“It has actually been a 7x100 because we had other boys in the heat. We had to swim off to see who would go in the final. There’s been months of preparation behind this for this so we could get our first-ever 4x100 medal and here it is.”
Szaranek was a revelation, putting himself into prime position to attack Lewis down the final 50 in a race played out amid a heavy rain shower but just leaving himself too much to do. He said he was delighted to have made his dad John – an illustrious swimming coach who continues to work with the Florida-based player – proud.
“It was great. I wanted the rain to come," he said. " I wanted the wind – a little more of it would have been nice, even. The race was good, don’t get me wrong, but I was maybe a little too controlled up front. I executed the plan but unfortunately there was someone who outdid me.
“My mum and dad are here, a bunch of family and friends and I’m glad they could be here to see it," he said. "That would be them in the stand with the saltire with ‘SZARANEK’ all over it! I was so happy to see them there when I was walking round doing my 'lap of honour'.
“My dad coached me from when I was about 12 years old through to 18 or 19 and I went to Florida and I cannot ask for a better dad or a better coach, to be honest. I’m so thankful for all the opportunities he’s given me in the sport and everything he’s done for me. Hopefully I did them both proud and I'll be looking to make them even prouder in the 200m.”
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