Former FIRST swimmer Duncan Scott in seventh heaven as he equals Hoy's haul


But former FIRST swimmer Duncan Scott etched his own name onto the canvas of Scotland’s sporting superstars by equalling that tally on Tuesday night at the La Defense Arena.
Scott, who started out at Bo’ness ASC, delivered the first Scottish gold of Paris 2024 by anchoring Great Britain’s 4x200m freestyle relay team to a stunning victory.
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Hide AdThe Alloa express held off USA’s Kieran Smith and sped home to equal Hoy’s record and bag Team GB’s first gold in the pool – and fourth overall – at the 2024 Games.
Five of Scott’s haul have come in relays and he was joined on the top step by team-mates James Guy, Tom Dean and Matt Richards, the quartet touching the wall in a combined 6:59:43s to defend the title they won in Tokyo three years ago.
The win will reinvigorate Scott’s Olympic campaign after a painful pair of near-misses so far. He finished fifth in the 4x100m freestyle relay and then missed out on a medal in the individual 200m event by less than a tenth of a second.
But the 27-year-old looked in supreme form down the final leg to notch up the second gold of his career. Scott has one event to come in the 200m individual medley, where he is expected to zoom past Hoy’s total and take the record outright. Not bad for a kid from Alloa.
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Hide AdHis Olympic resume may lack the individual gold he badly craves – and with France superstar Leon Marchand the favourite for gold in the 200m medley, that is unlikely to change – but there is no disputing his place among the greats.
This is Team GB’s first swimming gold of what has otherwise been a frustrating Games.
Scott finished fourth in that same race and, while the men’s 4x100m relay team were not expected to medal, it was another close shave, while Max Litchfield and Freya Colbett have also finished in the dreaded fourth spot. But right from the starters gun, this was in the bag.
Guy, the 2015 200m world champion, swam the first leg and took an early lead at the 100m mark. He clocked 1:45.09 for his split for a lead of 0.46s over USA’s Luke Hobson.
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Hide AdDean was quickly caught, and turned at the 150m mark down in fourth position. However, he timed his race perfectly and came roaring back down the final 50m to hand Richards a half-second lead.
Richards, swimming for the second time in the evening after his unsuccessful 100m semi-final, maintained that half-second advantage and let Scott do the rest.
With Smith in the next lane, Scott pulled away from the get-go in an ear-splitting atmosphere.
The lead grew to 0.85s by the 50m mark and 0.91s by 100m and, while Smith reduced the gap back to 0.85s for the last 50, Scott hit the after-burners.
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Hide AdHis final time was 1:43:95s, 0.85s faster than anyone else – and ironically enough to have won individual gold on Monday.
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