Scottis raringto goafter lockdown

Olympic-hopeful Scott McLay ensured to keep on top of his fitness ahead of his return to the pool.

The Perth swimmer made his comeback to the Stirling University water earlier in the summer when the elite group was given the green light.

During the COVID-19 lockdown he continued to put in the land training in order to be as close as possible to peak condition.

That has paid off and McLay said: “It was surprising how quick I was able to get back into it.

“But I think it was because of all the work during lockdown. I did quite a few cycles, boxercise sessions – and a lot of dog walks.

“It was down to yourself for your motivation. I stuck to it because I knew if I put in a good block of training through lockdown, it would have me in good shape.

“I didn’t want to come back and spend another couple of months trying to get back up to relative fitness.

“I kept my aerobic capacity up which allowed me to almost pick up where I left off when I got back in the pool.

“It’s been great getting back in again. All of us were getting a bit agitated with England back into training, but we’re finally back in.

“Everything is heading in the right direction. We now need to set up good training times and slots to get ready for competition.”

The competition calendar remains a touch hazy for now, but McLay, a former Perth City Swim Club member, still has the Olympic Games in his sights.

He was on track to make GB’s team for this year’s Tokyo spectacle but, because of the pandemic, the event has been postponed to 2021.

“Hopefully competition is towards the end of this year, but it is all up in the air at the moment,” added McLay.

“I think in the next month or two we’ll find out if shortcourse is opening to us or not.

“The trials is definitely the big main event.

“There will have been two years to show the work that has been done.

“We’re aiming towards that and will just be taking things as they come. Everyone is in the same boat.”

Joining McLay on the elite programme at Stirling University is fellow Perth star Stephen Milne. They used to train together in the Fair City.

McLay said: “It throws me back to when I was a youth and Stephen was bombing it up and down.

“It’s good to have him and it will be interesting to see what he is able to do in the next year or two.”