Duncan Scott – Keynote Speaker

Duncan Scott is Great Britain’s most decorated athlete in any sport at one Olympic Games and Great Britain’s most decorated Olympic swimmer ever. He has one gold and five silver medals to his name, all achieved while studying for a degree in business and sports studies at the University of Stirling in Scotland.

In 2014, at the age of 16, Duncan burst on to the international swimming scene winning a Commonwealth Games silver medal in the 4x200m Freestyle Relay for Team Scotland in Glasgow.

Soon after in 2015 he made his first appearance at the European Games, winning three golds and three silvers to become Great Britain’s most decorated athlete in Baku. Later that year, at his debut appearance at a World Championships, he took home the gold medal as part of the men’s 4x200m Freestyle relay team.

Prior to the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Duncan competed in the European Swimming Championships in London, where he claimed two gold medals in the men’s and mixed 4×100 Medley Relays.

The summer of 2016 cemented Duncan’s status as a rising star of the international swim scene when he returned from the Olympics as a two-time silver medallist as part of the Men’s 4x200m Freestyle and 4x100m Medley relay teams that finished narrowly behind the all-star USA team led by Michael Phelps.

A testament to his huge potential, Duncan Scott also achieved a fifth-place finish in the Men’s 100m Freestyle, in the process setting a new British record of 48.01 seconds and becoming the first British man to reach the Freestyle final since Bobby McGregor in 1968.

This success continued into 2017 as Duncan won a silver medal in the 4x100m Medley relay before successfully defending his 4x200m Freestyle relay title at the World Championships in Budapest.

At 20 years old, Duncan Scott amassed the highest ever total of medals achieved by a Scottish swimmer in a Commonwealth Games. The 2018 Gold Coast event saw Duncan win a total of six medals: one gold, one silver and four bronzes. In honour of this incredible contribution to Scotland’s largest ever medal tally (44), Duncan was selected as Team Scotland’s flag bearer at the Games’ closing ceremony.

Duncan’s blistering form in 2018 continued as he claimed 4 medals at the European Championships in Glasgow. This included gold in the 200m Freestyle, the 4x200m Freestyle relay, and the men’s 4x100m Medley relay, and silver in the 100m Freestyle.

The 2019 World Championships in Gwangju saw Duncan walk away with a gold in the Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay and Bronze in the 200m Freestyle and the inaugural International Swimming League later in the year saw Duncan play a key role in the London Roar team who finished second overall.

2020 was the longest period he had ever experienced out of the pool, but Duncan Scott proved he was in exceptional form as he rounded off 2020 with a series of successful swims at the ISL once again. He set a new British Record in the 200 Individual Medley and broke the British Record for the 200m freestyle twice, a week apart from each other.

Despite the delay of Tokyo 2020 Duncan maintained his focus and form and at the 2021 British Championships his unwavering form resulted in three fantastic swims. He began the week by setting a new British Record of 1:55:90 in the 200IM, then went onto equal his existing British Record in the 100m Freestyle and finished off with a new British Record in the 200m Freestyle with a time of 1:44:47 in what was a phenomenally competitive field.

Duncan continued to impress at the European Championships a month later in his final stretch to the Olympics. He took home 2 golds in the mixed 4×100 free relay and men’s 4×100 medley relay in addition to 3 silver medals in the 200m free, men’s 4x 100 free relay and men’s 4×200 free relay.

Despite a busy schedule Duncan Scott continued to make history with an impressive medal haul at the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. He achieved gold in the men’s 4 x 200m freestyle relay and silver in the men’s medley relay which set a new European record of 3:27.51. He also took silver in the individual 200m freestyle and 200 IM where he set a new British Record of 1:55.28, making him Great Britain’s most decorated athlete in any sport at one Olympic Games and Great Britain’s most decorated Olympic swimmer ever.

This record haul led to Duncan Scott being recognised for services to swimming in the 2022 New Years honours list with an MBE.

Once again Duncan Scott made history at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. He amassed 2 gold medals in his signature 200m freestyle and 200m IM in addition to 4 bronze medals, making him Scotland’s most decorated athlete ever in the Commonwealth Games.

Now focusing on Paris 2024, Duncan looks set for an exciting lead up to the next Olympic Games and beyond.