Double Olympic medallist Duncan Scott has won almost all there is to win as part of a team, but he's ready to prove he can do just as well on his own.
The 21-year-old freestyle specialist took 100m gold and 200m silver, as well as a pair of team golds, in home water at the 2018 European Championships in Glasgow, capping a bumper year in which he had already claimed no fewer than six medals at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.
It was 12 months that saw him establish himself as an individual threat in the pool, after having been a member of two silver-medal winning quartets at the Rio Olympics, but he still was not impressed.
“It’s been a lot different to any other year that I’ve been able to reflect, because for me personally I didn’t swim that well,” he said.
“This is the first year I’ve not PB’d in the 100m and 200m freestyle, but yet it was the first year that I got individual success on an international scene.
“I guess mixed feelings, but then again it was a really good year, so I’ve got to take away the positives, but for me sat down at the start of the season there’s a lot of things we’d like to focus on and improve this year.”
Back and raring to go with a new season on the horizon, everything is gearing up for the summer’s World Championships in South Korea.
And Scott is doing his best to take a level-headed, systematic approach as his star continues to rise and expectations grow.
“Qualification for worlds is the priority, get that done, tick the box and then move on,” he said.
“For me it’s one thing at a time: the overall objective is the Olympic Games.
“This is a massive jump forward this year compared to last. Last year was European and Commonwealth Games, this is all of them plus Asia and America.
“There’s a lot of countries to add in there that are very competitive and this year’s going to be incredibly challenging.”
Sportsbeat 2019