Dundee swimmer Evan Davidson, 14, is thought to be one of the youngest swimmers asked to represent Scotland’s national team.
He and his schoolmates Elise Cosens and Owen Carroll, both 16, will hope to follow in the footsteps of Olympian Duncan Scott‘s footsteps when they compete and train for Scotland’s national swimming team.
The Strathallan School pupils were noticed after impressive results in the summer’s competitions.
Locally, Evan swims for Dundee City Aquatics. But he will now join the junior Scotland squad after he finished top nationally in his age group in all six disciplines, including the 100-metre freestyle.
He joined the Perthshire school in 2020 and said the opportunity is “unbelievable”.
He said: “I’m quite young so it feels great to get some new training experiences and hopefully go to some international competitions this year.
“I’m really happy with my times this summer, it was my first competition in Scotland so it feels great to compete at this level.”
Duncan Scott, who won Olympic gold and three silver medals at this year’s event in Tokyo, also attended the fee-paying school and went on to impress for his country.
Elise and Owen, who both swim for Perth City Swimming Club, hope to match his achievements in the pool one day.
The pupils have been selected for the National Youth Academy after impressive performances in the water this summer.
Elise, who placed fourth in her age group’s national category for 100 metres and 400 metres freestyle, hopes her recent open water swimming will translate to more power in the pool.
She said: “I’m delighted to be selected for the academy after mostly training by myself over the summer.
“With the first competition under our belts, I just hope to have a good time and continue to do what I love which is to swim every day.
It feels great to be part of the squad”
Owen Carroll
“I feel a lot stronger now in the water after starting to wild swim during lockdown. I feel like I have greater control so I hope this shows. My aim is to keep progressing in the squads.”
Owen is also looking forward to making a splash for his country after placing second for the 100 metre backstroke.
“It feels great to be part of the squad,” he said. “The whole team did well in the first competition, so I’m excited to see what we can do next.”
Head of swimming at Strathallan, Elaine Johnston, said: “To start the year with three swimmers selected for the national team is fantastic.
“All our swimmers recorded significant personal bests across the board this summer which is tremendous given the tough year they had returning to the pool and short time of full training following lockdowns. I can’t wait to see what they achieve this year.”
