2019 LEN EUROPEAN SHORT COURSE CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, December 4th – Sunday, December 8th
- Tollcross International Swimming Centre, Glasgow, Scotland
- SCM
- Entry List
- Competition Schedule
- Results
- Live Video – LEN TV
- Day 1 Prelims Recap
The man who helped bring Great Britain to men’s medley relay gold medal status with a heroic anchor at this summer’s World Championships swam another big-time relay leg during this morning’s prelims of the European Short Course Championships.
Leading off the British men’s 4x50m freestyle relay, 22-year-old Duncan Scott threw down the fastest SCM 50 free of his career, stopping the clock in a result of 21.25. That blew away his previous PB of 21.53 set just last month at the British Universities & Colleges (BUCS) Short Course Championships.
Scott’s 21.25 lead-off from this morning’s heats represented the 2nd fastest opener of the field, sitting only behind Hungary’s Maksim Lobanovskij’s 21.21 split from the previous heat. Along with Scott McLay, Joe Litchfield and James Guy, the Britons took the 3rd seed behind Russia and Poland, combining for a time of 1:25.31 heading into tonight’s final.
Scott’s time this morning was good enough to mark a new Scottish national record, as well as make the University of Stirling standout the 3rd fastest British performer ever in the event. The fastest Brit is Ben Proud and his time of 20.66 from 2017, while Mark Foster is next in line from way back in 2001 with his mark of 21.13.
Scott is a true renaissance man when it comes to his swimming event versatility. Last month at the aforementioned BUCS, Scott raced a brutal schedule that entailed over 15 races in 48 hours. He dove in for events ranging from the 50m free, to the 1500m free, from the 100m fly to the 400m IM, nailing multiple golds along the way.
That’s just par for the course for the most decorated Scottish Commonwealth Games athlete of all-time. In addition to the aforementioned medley relay gold from Gwangju, Scott also nailed bronze in the 200m free individually.
He’ll be taking on a packed schedule here in his hometown of Glasgow, having entered all 3 IM events, as well as the 100m and 200m free races.
His PB was 21.46 from the first round of skins at London ISL.