Sean McCann, the younger brother of Madeleine McCann, says he is "very excited" as he prepares to represent Scotland at the Commonwealth Games. The 21-year-old distance freestyler is set to make his first appearance in the pool this weekend.
Sean was just two years old when his sister Madeleine vanished from a family holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007. She has been missing since, presumed dead. Sean is expected to compete in freestyle relay events at the slimmed-down Games.
First senior games
“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. I was there at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, watching as a kid, so to make it now, twelve years later, is really a full circle moment.”
Training and mentality
He said his studies and life at Loughborough helped 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."
“But here, there’s always been people who are better than me, similar to me, so we push each other all the time, and we’re all striving towards the same sort of things. You can never really slack off with the quality of athletes around you.”
“You’ve got to have a strong mentality in distance swimming; I always tend to go out quite slow and 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.”
Balancing studies and sport
McCann also spoke about what drew him to Loughborough while balancing his training and studies. “I study Chemical Engineering; 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.”
