The participation of Duncan Scott, Scotland’s most decorated Commonwealth Games athlete, has been confirmed for next summer’s home games in Glasgow – with the ex-FIRST swimmer keen to “build a legacy”.

Scott – who came through the ranks as member of the Falkirk Integrated Regional Swim Team (now known as Forth Valley Tridents) – will lead Team Scotland’s charge in the pool and will bid to add to his 19 Commonwealth Games medals, including four golds.

The 28-year-old also has two gold and six silver Olympics medals to his name.

Shortly after leaving FIRST, where Scott trained with first Bo’ness then Grangemouth ASC, he secured his first Commonwealth medal aged 17 at the Glasgow 2014 Games.

Grangemouth-trained Duncan Scott, who honed his craft as a member of FIRST, is Team Scotland's first swimmer for Glasgow 2026 (Photo: Craig Watson/Team Scotland)

placeholder image — Grangemouth-trained Duncan Scott, who honed his craft as a member of FIRST, is Team Scotland's first swimmer for Glasgow 2026 (Photo: Craig Watson/Team Scotland)

And he is relishing the chance of tasting more success in front of a home crowd.

“Not often do you get to compete at a home Commonwealth Games, and not often do you get to do it twice,” said Grangemouth-trained Scott.

“Last time I was 17 on the team, and just happy to be there and have any part of the team. It’s such a good competition and it’s kind of the reason what made me fall in love with competitive swimming.

“I think the crowd and atmosphere that Glasgow brings in every sporting contest is great so I think it will help get the most out of everyone.

“Recently with Scottish Swimming we’ve been speaking about how we can build a legacy and the one thing that we can do is get mandatory school swimming into it, and I think off the back of 2014, the legacy that brought, is for certain we wouldn’t be able to host 2026 without 2014 and the facilities that are in place. So you know, that’s something that we want to create.

“Hopefully, it will be a quick start to a more active and healthy lifestyle throughout Scotland. It's not often you get one home Games, never mind two, so that's special and to be named in the squad so early takes a bit of the pressure off."

More Team Scotland athletes from across all ten sports and six para-sports featured at Glasgow 2026, which takes place between July 23 and August 2, will be selected in the coming months.

Meanwhile, Amdavad was formally ratified as the host of the Centenary Commonwealth Games in 2030.

And Scott was delighted to see the Indian city confirmed – but he was coy on whether he’d be likely to make a fifth Games.

He said: “The Commonwealth Games are a special part of my career. Taking part in a home Games is incredible, so I’m excited for Indian athletes who’ll get to do that in 2030. And for everyone else we’ve got an opportunity to expand our horizons and experience the ambition and colour of Amdavad and India. I loved the chance to compete in the Gold Coast in Australia as part of a travelling Team Scotland. We look forward to handing over the Games to Amdavad in great shape after welcoming all to Glasgow next year.

He added: “I’m 28 just now – I don’t know what I’m doing tomorrow, never mind in 2030. I don’t want to commit either way but what I will say is I find it really exciting hearing not only that Amdavad wants to host the Commonwealth Games but a number of other events. I think that that is really exciting from an athletes point of view, seeing that it’s going to have this legacy for multiple sports as well.”