With the British Swimming Championships less than two weeks away, Stirling based Duncan Scott is keen to focus on the task at hand, rather than getting ahead of himself.
With Glasgow’s Tollcross International Swimming Centre playing host to the annual showdown of Britain’s best, the Commonwealth and European champion knows he needs to swim well in Glasgow before he turns his attention to Gwangju, the South Korean city that will host the FINA World Aquatics Championships in July.
With qualification up for grabs in Glasgow from 16th-12st April, Scott is keen to book his place on the plane for 2019’s showcase meet.
“I’m looking forward to the British Champs a lot – it should be good and I’m excited that they’re in Glasgow” said Scott.
“Qualification for Worlds is the priority and I’ve got to get that done, tick the box and then move on. But for me it’s definitely one step at a time as the overall objective is the Olympic Games next year.”
Whilst he’s very aware of what he’s working towards, the 21 year old shows maturity beyond his years to focus on the process at hand, ticking off progress goals on the way to his ultimate aims.
So how’s his winter been?
“I’ve been really fortunate to go on the British Swimming altitude camps; both of them were really good and I thoroughly enjoyed them and I know all the rest of swimmers did too. It’s always a really good group of guys and girls who go out there and it’s put me in a really good place.”
Indeed it has put the multi-talented swimmer in a good place, with some strong in-season swims at the Edinburgh International last month the perfect tune up as he looks to take the next step.
“I’ve got to take it one year at a time and this year is a massive jump compared to last year – last year was Europeans and Commonwealth Games and this is all of them plus Asia and America, so it’s going to be incredibly challenging.
“Steve and I sat down at the start of the season and there’s a lot of things we’d like to focus on and improve coming into this year.”
First things first though, and the British Championships are looming.Secure your tickets for the Britsh Swimming Championships 2019 here and more event details can be found here.