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TFIS - Europeans yield two personal bests for Glenrothes swimmer
In May, 16 year old Scott was selected for the 4 x 100m freestyle British relay team heading for Belgium. But as fifth man, he didn't get the opportunity to race. Instead, he endured a five day gap before competing in the 50m freestyle - a wait that was well worth it. In the heats he beat all of his relay team mates, reduced his personal best on two occasions, and finished ninth overall.
Before going to Belgium my best was 23.92 seconds, he said. This event is what I'd been training for over the past few months, so I had tapered my training down before the competition and was expecting to go fast.
In the heats I went 23.67 seconds, then in the semi final I swam 23.55.
Supported by the Tayside & Fife Institute of Sport for the last two seasons, Scott and his coach at Glenrothes SC, Dave McLean, have had input from the High Performance Swimming Coach, Gary Vandermeulen, Strength & Conditioning coach, Gilmour Stevenson, along with physios, podiatrists, psychologists and lifestyle advisors.
Daniel was close to making a final in Antwerp and coming ninth is pretty amazing, said Vandermeulen, husband and coach to former Scottish Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Alison Sheppard.
This was a huge event for him; it's a terrific learning experience to go to an international competition like the European juniors, not just to participate but to actually be a contender. There were only three swimmers his age faster than him so next year is looking really good.
Scott will have his second and last opportunity to compete in a European Championship in 2008. Having performed well the first time, he is confident he can do even better in 12 months time.
It was an amazing atmosphere, he said. There was a great team spirit, a lot of noise and hype around it, which all help to get you going. A lot of the competitors were in the upper age group so hopefully I'll get a lot further in future. An event like that opens your eyes and will hopefully help me step up my game.
Scott is back in the pool this week, in the not so glamorous setting of Sheffield for the British Age Group Championships. He has a busy schedule involving backstroke, butterfly, freestyle and individual medley and a range of distances in each.
I'll prepare myself for that and hopefully swim just as well, he added. If not better.