The parents of Madeleine McCann cheered with pride as their son Sean finished eighth in the final of the men’s 400m freestyle on his Commonwealth Games debut for Scotland.

The 21-year-old, who studies at Loughborough University, was given a huge roar when he was announced to the crowd. But he was unable to match the pace set by Australia’s Sam Short, the 2023 world champion, who took gold in 3 mins 41.25 as he finished 12 seconds back.

But for McCann reaching the final at all was a major achievement, especially as he was up against multiple Olympic and world medallists.

“I’m buzzing,” said McCann, speaking after he qualified by finishing fourth in his morning heat. “It wasn’t really an expectation coming in especially with how strong the field was but I’m delighted to see I made it.

“I wouldn’t say I felt the pressure but I was certainly nervous with so many people watching and I wanted to do well not only for myself but Team Scotland as well. I was definitely nervous but I’m glad I produced a decent swim.

“It was amazing, I could hear them the whole way through the race. They spurred me on to really give it my all down that last 100m.”

McCann grew up in England, but qualifies for Scotland through his father, Gerry, who was at the Tollcross Swimming Centre, as was his mother, Kate, to support their son. He and his twin sister, Amelie, were two years old when Madeleine, then aged three, went missing during a family holiday in Praia Da Luz, Portugal, in 2007.

McCann started swimming seriously at Charnwood Triathlon Club when he was eight, and by the age of 10 had joined the high performance City of Leicester club. He has been part of the Scottish swimming programme since his teens.

Asked about his motivation for wanting to swim, he said: “From a young age I really enjoyed competing. That makes all the hard hours in training worth it, coming out here in front of a crowd like this and swimming as well as I can really.

McCann is studying chemical engineering at Loughborough, where he is coached by Andi Manley, who is leading the England team in Glasgow. He will also compete in the 800m and 1500m freestyle and hopes it will be a launchpad to becoming an Olympian at the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.

“The Olympics is always that step even further so to be able to represent Scotland here is a good stepping stone,” he said. “Hopefully a couple of years of work will put my name in the mix.”

Two other Australians completed the podium, with Elijah Winnington winning silver in 3:45.56 a hundredth of a second ahead of Benjamin Goedemans.