Madeleine McCann's younger brother, Sean McCann, has spoken of his excitement as he prepares to represent Scotland at the Commonwealth Games. Sean, 21, is due to make his first appearance at Glasgow 2026 in the pool this weekend.
First senior games
Sean, a distance freestyler, is expected to compete in the freestyle relay events at the slimmed-down Games. He said: “I’m very excited, it’s my first senior games so I’m just looking forward to representing Scotland and doing my absolute best,” he said in a message released by Loughborough University, where he is a student. “It’s the pinnacle really of representing Scotland at the Commonwealth Games, especially at a home Games. I’ve got lots of family up in Glasgow so that makes it even more special.”
Full circle moment
Sean was just two years old when his sister Madeleine, three, disappeared from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007. She has been missing ever since, presumed dead. Reflecting on his journey, Sean added: “I was there in 2014 Commonwealth Games, watching as a kid, so to make it now, twelve years later, is really a full circle moment.”
Training and studies
Sean credited his studies and life at Loughborough for helping him flourish. “At my home club I didn’t really have anyone doing the same events as me, which meant in training you were always working by yourself,” he said. “But here, there’s always been people who are better than me, similar to me, so we push each other all the time. We’re all striving towards the same sort of things. You can never really slack off with the quality of athletes around you.”
Underdog mentality
“You’ve got to have a strong mentality in distance swimming; I always tend to build my way into a race – that’s how I like to pace it. I’m going in as more of an underdog; I don’t feel like there’s any pressure on me. I should be able to go in and perform at my best,” he added.
Choosing Loughborough
Sean, who studies Chemical Engineering, said: “I spoke to coaches in Britain, and they said ‘if you want to pursue distance swimming, this is where to go’. Alongside that, it was number one for the degree as well, which made it the obvious choice in the end. There’s so much talent just around the campus. Wherever you go, you always see athletes around. The pool’s amazing, the gym’s amazing – it’s the place to be, and I really love training here.”
Opening ceremony
King Charles is expected to tell the audience about the importance of togetherness in his speech to open the Games tonight. KT Tunstall is headlining the show which takes place from 8pm to 10pm at Glasgow’s OVO Hydro. The 14,300-seater venue is more accustomed to hosting the world’s biggest music stars than international sporting events. Organisers describe the show as “a creative kaleidoscope and Clyde-built journey packed full of music, humour and Scottish surprise”. The King will formally declare the Games open by reading aloud the message he placed inside the King’s Baton at Buckingham Palace on Commonwealth Day, March 10 last year. It has spent the past 500 days travelling to all 74 competing nations and territories, each of which decorated its own version, before being reunited on stage during the Parade of Nations at the opening ceremony.
