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Duncan SCOTT
Sport Swimming
NOC Great Britain   
GenderMen
Born06 May 1997 in Glasgow, SCO
Height1.90 m
 Human Interest 
Further Personal Information
Residence
Stirling, SCO
Sport Specific Information
Club / Team
University of Stirling: Scotland
Further Personal Information
Higher education
Business, Sport Studies - University of Stirling: Scotland
General Interest
Hobbies
Supporting Scottish football team Alloa Athletic and American football team the Carolina Panthers, golf. (Instagram profile, 15 Apr 2019; tlaworldwide.com, 21 Jul 2019)
Sport Specific Information
Why this sport?
His father took him and his older sister swimming every Sunday. He also played tennis up until age 13, when he chose to concentrate on swimming. "My dad would take myself and my sister to the pool in Troon every Sunday where he would teach us how to swim. My first club was South Ayrshire and I joined because my sister did. My earliest memory is of my dad teaching me and my sister how to float on our backs, the very basics of backstroke."
General Interest
Ambitions
To compete at the 2024 and 2028 Olympic Games. (brignews.com, 15 Aug 2020; eurosport.co.uk, 03 May 2021)
Awards and honours
He was appointed Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire [MBE] in the 2022 New Year Honours list. (thetimes.co.uk, 01 Jan 2022)

He was named the 2019/20 Male Athlete of the Year at the Scottish Student Sport Awards. (brignews.com, 15 Aug 2020)

He was named 2018 Swimmer of the Year by British Swimming. (swimswam.com, 17 Nov 2018)

He was honoured with the Nancy Riach Memorial Medal by Swimming Scotland in 2018. The medal is given to the athlete who best enhanced or upheld the prestige of Scottish swimming over the year. (swimswam.com, 01 Oct 2018)

He was named 2018 National Lottery Athlete of the Year in Great Britain. (bbc.co.uk, 24 Sep 2018)

He was named 2018 Scottish Sportsperson of the Year and 2018 Male Athlete of the Year at the Team Scotland Scottish Sports Awards. He also won the Male Athlete of the Year award in 2017. (swimswam.com, 17 Sep 2018)

He was flag bearer for Scotland at the closing ceremony of the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, QLD, Australia. (swimswam.com, 16 Apr 2018)

He won the Sir Peter Heatly Trophy for Outstanding Young Sportsperson of the Year at the 2015 Scottish Sportsperson of the Year Awards. (eastlothiancourier.com, 08 Oct 2015)
Sport Specific Information
Name of coach
Steven Tigg [club]; Bradley Hay [club]
When and where did you begin this sport?
He began swimming at age six at a local club in Troon, Scotland.
Further Personal Information
Occupation
Athlete
Languages
English
General Interest
Injuries
He missed the 2022 World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, as he was recovering from COVID-19. (swimmingworldmagazine.com, 14 Jun 2022)

In September 2018 he ruptured two ankle ligaments after tripping over while walking on a footpath. (bbc.co.uk, 24 Sep 2018)
Most influential person in career
Coach Steven Tigg. (backarisingstar.wordpress.com, 24 Jul 2017)
Milestones
He won one gold medal and three silver medals at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, which made him the first athlete representing Great Britain in any sport to win four medals at a single edition of the Olympic Games. (SportsDeskOnline, 22 Nov 2021)

He became the first Scottish athlete to win six medals at a single edition of the Commonwealth Games by claiming one gold, one silver, and four bronze medals at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, QLD, Australia. He won a further six medals at the 2022 Games in Birmingham, England, to take his total to 13 [including a silver from the 2014 Games in Glasgow, Scotland], which is more than any other athlete representing Scotland at the Commonwealth Games. (SportsDeskOnline, 05 Sep 2022; aberdeenlive.news, 30 Aug 2022; bbc.co.uk, 11 Apr 2018)
Other information
OTHER ACTIVITIES
He has led workshops and participated in community events as part of Scottish Swimming and Scottish Water's Learn to Swim programme. (tlaworldwide.com, 21 Jul 2019)

PODIUM PROTEST
After winning bronze in the 200m freestyle at the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju, Republic of Korea, he chose not to take part in a photo opportunity on the podium alongside the event's winner, Chinese swimmer Sun Yang. The pair then appeared to have a disagreement as they left the pool. At the time of the event Sun was awaiting a hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport [CAS] over a possible anti-doping violation. Both Scott and Sun were sent a warning letter by the International Swimming Federation [FINA] after the incident. (fina.org, 23 Jul 2019; globaltimes.cn, 24 Jul 2019)
Famous relatives
His older sister Alex was captain of the women's swim team at the University of Dundee in Scotland. (teamgb.com, 21 Jul 2019)
Sporting philosophy / motto
"The wonderful thing with sport is that you never know when you're going to hit your peak, it's just about trying to manipulate when you think you're going to be at your best that year. For me, my career is about longevity and continuing to make all the improvements." (brignews.com, 15 Aug 2020)

 Competition Highlights
Olympic Games
Rank Year Venue Event Result
2 2021 Tokyo, JPN 200m Individual Medley 1:55.28
2 2021 Tokyo, JPN 200m Freestyle 1:44.26
1 2021 Tokyo, JPN 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay 6:58.58
2 2021 Tokyo, JPN 4 x 100m Medley Relay 3:27.51
5 2016 Rio de Janeiro, BRA 100m Freestyle 48.01
2 2016 Rio de Janeiro, BRA 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay 7:03.13
2 2016 Rio de Janeiro, BRA 4 x 100m Medley Relay  
World Championships
Rank Year Venue Event Result
6 2024 Doha, QAT 200m Individual Medley 1:57.75
6 2024 Doha, QAT 200m Freestyle 1:45.86 
4 2024 Doha, QAT 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay 3:12.55
3 2024 Doha, QAT 4 x 100m Medley Relay 3:45.09
2 2023 Fukuoka, JPN 200m Individual Medley 1:55.95
Heats 2023 Fukuoka, JPN 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay  
1 2023 Fukuoka, JPN 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay 6:59.08
3 2023 Fukuoka, JPN 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay 3:21.68
5 2019 Gwangju, KOR 200m Individual Medley 1:56.91
3 2019 Gwangju, KOR 200m Freestyle 1:45.63
Heats 2019 Gwangju, KOR 100m Freestyle  DNS
5 2019 Gwangju, KOR 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay 3:11.81
5 2019 Gwangju, KOR 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay 7:02.04
1 2019 Gwangju, KOR 4 x 100m Medley Relay 3:28.10
4 2017 Budapest, HUN 200m Freestyle 1:45.27
5 2017 Budapest, HUN 100m Freestyle 48.11
1 2017 Budapest, HUN 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay 7:01.70
2 2017 Budapest, HUN 4 x 100m Medley Relay 3:28.95
Heats 2015 Kazan, RUS 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay 3:15.70
1 2015 Kazan, RUS 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay  
World Championships Short Course
Rank Year Venue Event Result
7 2021 Abu Dhabi, UAE 200m Individual Medley 1:54.08
Heats 2021 Abu Dhabi, UAE 400m Individual Medley  DNS
Heats 2021 Abu Dhabi, UAE 100m Individual Medley  DNS
4 2021 Abu Dhabi, UAE 200m Freestyle 1:42.27
European Championships
Rank Year Venue Event Result
1 2021 Budapest, HUN 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay 3:22.07
6 2021 Budapest, HUN 200m Individual Medley 1:58.18
2 2021 Budapest, HUN 200m Freestyle 1:45.19
Heats 2021 Budapest, HUN 100m Freestyle  DNS
2 2021 Budapest, HUN 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay 7:04.61
2 2021 Budapest, HUN 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay 3:11.56
1 2021 Budapest, HUN 4 x 100m Medley Relay  
1 2018 Glasgow, SCO 200m Freestyle 1:45.34
2 2018 Glasgow, SCO 100m Freestyle 48.23
Heats 2018 Glasgow, SCO 200m Individual Medley 1:58.57
1 2018 Glasgow, SCO 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay 7:05.32
1 2018 Glasgow, SCO 4 x 100m Medley Relay 3:30.44
Heats 2016 London, ENG 200m Freestyle 1:49.77
Heats 2016 London, ENG 200m Individual Medley  DNS
Semifinal 2016 London, ENG 100m Freestyle 49.11
Heats 2016 London, ENG 100m Butterfly  DNS
7 2016 London, ENG 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay 3:17.13
1 2016 London, ENG 4 x 100m Medley Relay 3:32.15
1 2016 London, ENG 4 x 100m Medley Relay  
6 2016 London, ENG 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay 7:10.73
European Championships Short Course
Rank Year Venue Event Result
2 2023 Otopeni, ROU 400m Individual Medley 4:00.17
1 2023 Otopeni, ROU 200m Individual Medley 1:50.98
Heats 2023 Otopeni, ROU 100m Individual Medley  DNS
1 2023 Otopeni, ROU 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay  
Heats 2019 Glasgow, SCO 400m Individual Medley 4:01.20
8 2019 Glasgow, SCO 100m Individual Medley 52.57
2 2019 Glasgow, SCO 200m Freestyle 1:41.42
4 2019 Glasgow, SCO 200m Individual Medley 1:53.30
5 2019 Glasgow, SCO 100m Freestyle 46.58
4 2019 Glasgow, SCO 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay 1:24.82
2 2019 Glasgow, SCO 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay 1:28.64
Heats 2019 Glasgow, SCO 4 x 50m Medley Relay  
Heats 2017 Copenhagen, DEN 200m Individual Medley 1:55.41
3 2017 Copenhagen, DEN 200m Freestyle 1:43.07 
3 2017 Copenhagen, DEN 100m Freestyle 46.64
Heats 2017 Copenhagen, DEN 200m Butterfly  DNS
World Cup
Rank Year Venue Event Result
10 2022 Indianapolis, IN, USA 400m Individual Medley 4:12.98
8 2022 Indianapolis, IN, USA 400m Freestyle 3:45.35