Duncan Scott will head a Britain team of 16 at a home European Short-Course Swimming Championships in Glasgow on December 4-8.
The sprint freestyler and growing all-rounder intends to make the headlines once more after earning plaudits for a podium protest and a sizzling finish to his World-Championships campaign in Gwangju when he clocked the fastest textile 100m freestyle relay split in history to grant Britain medley relay gold over the USA in one of the upsets of the week.
Scott is one of four British gold medallists from the World Championships heading to Glasgow, his 4x100m medley teammates Luke Greenbank, James Guy and James Wilby (prelims before Adam Peaty stepped in for the final) set to race with him in Glasgow.
Beyond his refusal to pose for photographs with Sun Yang, the Chinese swimmer heading for a hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Scott made an impact in South Korea when he claimed bronze in the 200m freestyle before producing the most sizzling anchor ever seen on freestyle to help Britain snatch the 4x100m medley gold from the USA on the last night of action.
A Scot, Duncan Scott split 46.14 as he surged past Nathan Adrian in the final metres to deliver Great Britain’s first-ever win over the USA. Scott’s split was the swiftest of any in history unassisted by a suit and the second-quickest ever recorded.
Only Jason Lezak, wearing a shiny suit of the kind banned since 2010, has ever travelled faster, his sensational 46.06 split chasing down France’s Alain Bernard in the 4x100m freestyle relay at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing keeping Michael Phelps on target for a record eight golds at the WaterCube.
Scott opted out of the solo 100m freestyle in Gwangju in favour of trying out something new, the 200m medley, and, in pre-Olympic year, taking the focus away from the two-lap freestyle in which he claimed Commonwealth gold for Scotland in 2018.
Greenbank and Wilby also enjoyed individual success in Gwangju, Wilby taking silver behind Peaty’s storming performance in the 100m breaststroke, Greenbank clinching a breakthrough bronze in the 200m backstroke. All three men are based at Loughborough, Peaty and Greenbank in the same squad.
Peaty had already opted out of the short-course event at the end of a season that will include International Swimming League commitments for London Roar, the coach and manager for which are his own mentor and manager, respectively Melanie Marshall and Rob Woodhouse.
Greenbank Looking For A Fast Finish To 2019
Luke Greenbank joins the podium club of Evgeny Rylov, near right) and Ryan Murphy, left) – Photo Courtesy: Becca Wyant
On the prospect of finishing a breakthrough year in Glasgow, Greenbank said:
“2019 has been a brilliant year for me and I’m delighted that I’ll have the chance to hopefully finish it off in style up in Glasgow. Glasgow has been pretty kind to me over the last few years and the crowd there is always awesome, so I’m sure this will be another phenomenal championships on home soil.” And in home waters, too.
Two other medallists from Gwangju and now heading for Glasgow are freestyler Freya Anderson and backstroke ace Georgia Davies, who joined Peaty and Guy for mixed 4x100m medley bronze in South Korea.
Molly Renshaw; Photo Courtesy: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports
Breaststroke specialist Molly Renshaw returns to the short-course pool in which she has excelled before: at the 2016 World Short-Course Championships in Windsor, Canada, she claimed her first international title with gold in the 200m breaststroke. Renshaw said of the Glasgow mission ahead:
“I’m really pleased to have been included in a super strong team for the European Short Course in December. The GB team is flying at the moment, as we saw at the World Championships and the atmosphere in squad is amazing, so it’ll be amazing to put that GB cap on again. For me, winning the World Short Course Championships three years ago was definitely a highlight, but I’ve made some really good progress in 2019 and hopefully I can make the most of the opportunity to compete in Glasgow.”
She will be joined in the breaststroke events by Kayla Van Der Merwe, who will make her senior debut at the end of a year that delivered the European junior 100m breaststroke title and a podium place at the World Junior Championships a few weeks later.
The Great Britain Team
James Wilby – Photo Courtesy: Becca Wyant
Glasgow 2019:
- Freya Anderson, England, Ellesmere College
- Georgia Davies, Wales, Loughborough University
- Tom Dean, England, Bath National Centre
- Luke Greenbank, England, Loughborough National Centre
- James Guy, England, Bath National Centre
- Anna Hopkin, England, Bath University
- Max Litchfield, England, Loughborough National Centre
- Scott McClay, Scotland, University of Stirling
- Ross Murdoch, Scotland, University of Stirling
- Siobhan-Marie O’Connor, England, Loughborough National Centre
- Nick Pyle, England, Newcastle Swim Team
- Molly Renshaw, England, Loughborough National Centre
- Duncan Scott, Scotland, University of Stirling
- Laura Stephens, England, Plymouth Leander
- Kayla Van Der Merwe, England, Winchester City Penguins
- James Wilby, England, Loughborough National Centre