Sport Specific Information |
Club / Team |
University of Stirling: Scotland |
General Interest |
Injuries |
He had problems with his left shoulder during the early part of his career. (scotsman.com, 08 Sep 2009) |
Awards and honours |
He was named Male Swimmer of the Year at the 2018 City of Glasgow Swim Team awards ceremony in Scotland. (swimglasgow.co.uk, 10 Sep 2018)
He was named the 2011 Best Up and Coming Sportsperson at the Scottish Variety Awards. (backarisingstar.com, 19 Mar 2012) |
Further Personal Information |
Higher education |
Accounting, Finance - Heriot-Watt University: Edinburgh, SCO |
Sport Specific Information |
Why this sport? |
"I had always enjoyed swimming since finishing lessons and competing in school galas and knew that I wanted to take it up competitively. I didn't do this until my friend joined Warrender [in Edinburgh, Scotland] and I followed him into the club soon afterwards. I remember choking on the water once and refusing to get back in the pool but I overcame it." |
General Interest |
Hero / Idol |
US swimmer Michael Phelps. (swimming.org, 02 Feb 2014) |
Sport Specific Information |
When and where did you begin this sport? |
He learned to swim at age four at Balerno High School in Edinburgh, Scotland. He took up competitive swimming at age 11. |
International Debut |
Year |
2010 |
Competing for |
Scotland |
Further Personal Information |
Occupation |
Athlete |
Languages |
English |
General Interest |
Sporting philosophy / motto |
"I find nervous energy is the best thing, that's the thing I love before the race. I try to focus on getting as nervous as possible before the race because that's what helps me go out fast and not feel the pain until the later stages of a race." (dailymail.co.uk, 20 Jul 2014) |
Other information |
DELAYED RETIREMENT He was planning to retire from competitive swimming in 2020 but decided to continue until 2022 following the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. "When Olympic year was 2020, I was going to finish, no matter what. But then because of COVID, and it [the Olympic Games] getting delayed another year, it kind of meant that [the 2022] Commonwealth Games was a short time away. And it seems like too much of an opportunity to miss." (heraldscotland.com, 09 Dec 2021)
FURTHER EDUCATION He has studied biology at the University of the West of Scotland. (uws.ac.uk, 12 Mar 2020; swimglasgow.co.uk, 16 Feb 2018; glasgowlife.org.uk, 14 Nov 2016) |
Further Personal Information |
Residence |
Edinburgh, SCO |
Sport Specific Information |
Name of coach |
Steven Tigg [club]; Bradley Hay [club] |