Olympic trials just around the corner
He placed little expectation on his shoulders when first entering the world of swimming.
But with a possible place at the 2020 Olympic Games on the immediate horizon, Perth’s Scott McLay is more determined than ever to reach the top.
The 20-year-old helped secure Great Britain’s 100m freestyle relay spot for Tokyo with a fine World Championships performance last year.
And now he is preparing for April’s British Championships in London, which double up as the Olympic selection event.
“You come into this sport not really thinking much,” said former Perth City Swim Club member McLay. “That was the way I looked at it.
“I did it as an activity to keep fit. But once I realised I had something there and was pretty good, my heart has been set on making the Olympics.
“It’s the cliché saying but it would be a dream come true. It would show all the hard work I and others have put in towards me has paid off.
“It would mean a lot. I’ve still got plenty of years in the tank left, but it would be good making it at this point to get experience in. We’ve done a really big capacity block in the past couple of months and now it’s coming down to the finer details.
“It’s less volume and more intense sets, getting us ready for the trials. It’s about getting that power up.
“We’re in the gym as well, doing a lot of power movements like snatches and cleans to fine-tune ourselves to get the best out of April.
“I’m really looking forward to it because it’s been a four year wait in order to get to this point.
“We’re all pretty anxious to get going and to see what we can do at the trials.”
McLay’s morale was boosted at the weekend with a productive performance at the BUCS Long Course Swimming Championships in Sheffield.
He was part of a University of Stirling team which made history as the first uni outside Loughborough to win the overall men’s title in 32 years.
“It was quite a special one because we won the overall male over Loughborough,” McLay said. “They had held it for 32 years.
“It was good to get that and we all came together, getting the points we needed. We were all very happy as a collective to get the trophy.
“There were some really good results throughout. At this point of the season it’s quite hard to race well.
“But we went down to get the most out of ourselves and I think we all did that.”
McLay teamed up with Duncan Scott, Callum Bain and Lorenz Weiermans to win 100m freestyle relay gold in a record time of 3:20.58. They also came out on top in the 4x100 medley relay in a time of 3:40.14.
Speaking of the 100m freestyle record, McLay told the PA: “That was really good and we got ourselves pumped up.
“Relays are always good because you get behind each other to do the best you can. We were lucky enough to come away with a BUCS record.”
On the individual front, McLay picked up a silver in the 100m butterfly and a bronze in the 100m freestyle.
“They were very tough races and I had to really push myself,” he said. “At this point of the season, I wasn’t feeling too great.
“But it was good knowing I’m roughly at the same point I was last year - and I’ve had harder training in the lead up to this.
“I was pleased to produce the results I did and it’s looking promising for the next couple of months, coming up to the trials.”