Stirling Uni swimmer claims World Champs silver after stirring final leg comeback

Stirling University swimmer Duncan Scott added to his medal cabinet with a World Championship silver in Japan yesterday.

The 26-year-old, who has already tucked away multiple accolades at Olympic, World and Commonwealth level, qualified second-fastest for the 200 metre individual medley event in Fukuoka.

He was fifth at the halfway stage of the competitive final featuring the best swimmers from across the globe, but pulled back towards medal contention with a strong third leg before reeling in American Shaine Casas in the final 50 metres to touch for second place.

The race was won by French phenom Leon Marchand – who has now claimed three gold medals at the meet – in a time of 1:54:82, with Scott recording a time of 1:55:95.

Scott’s GB compatriot Tom Dean took home the bronze with a fast finish of his own in a time of 1:56:07.

It is the first time that Scott has taken home a silver medal from a World Championships on his fourth meet, having already claimed a glittering four golds from his previous efforts, albeit all in team relay races.

Ahead of the race, Scott said the race would form a key opportunity to size up his main competition ahead of the Olympics in Paris next year.

He said: “There are a lot of the boys in there I’ve not raced before after missing last year, so it’s good to race them ahead of next year in Paris.

“It’s why I wanted a good lane as well, to get a sense of what it’s like.”

The silver medal finish comes after an earlier disappointment for Scott as his men’s 4x100 metre freestyle squad were disqualified in the semi-final.

The team of Scott, Matt Richards, Jacob Whittle and Lewis Burras had set the fastest time during the race, but it was later ruled that Whittle began his third leg fractionally too