Image source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Sean McCann is a long-distance freestyle specialist
- Published8 minutes ago
Sean McCann - the younger brother of Madeleine McCann - will swim for Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Saturday.
The 21-year-old - a Loughborough University student - is entered in the 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle events as he makes his debut at a major championships.
The 400m heats begin on Saturday morning at the Tollcross Swimming Centre.
"I'm very excited. It's my first senior Games so I'm just looking forward to representing Scotland and doing my absolute best," McCann told Loughborough University earlier this week, external.
"It's the pinnacle really of representing Scotland at the Commonwealth Games, especially at a home Games.
"I've got lots of family up in Glasgow so that makes it even more special. I was there in 2014 [at the Commonwealth Games], watching as a kid, so to make it now, 12 years later, is really a full-circle moment."
McCann grew up in England but qualifies to compete for Scotland through his father, Gerry.
He and his twin sister were two years old when Madeleine, then aged three, went missing during a family holiday in Praia Da Luz, Portugal, in 2007.
It became one of the world's most high-profile missing-person cases and remains an ongoing Metropolitan Police investigation.
McCann's swimming career to date
McCann, who balances his swimming with studying for a chemical engineering degree, has been part of the Scottish Swimming programme since his teens.
He finished third in the 800m freestyle and fourth in the 1500m at the British Championships earlier this year.
McCann previously competed at the 2024 Championships, which doubled as Team GB's Olympic trials.
His progression to the senior Commonwealth Games comes after representing Scotland at the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago.
There he finished fifth in the 400m freestyle and seventh in the 1,500m freestyle.
He also raced for Great Britain at the 2025 European Open Water Championships in Croatia.
Speaking about his expectations for Glasgow, he said: "I'm going in as more of an underdog. I don't feel like there's any pressure on me. I should be able to go in and perform at my best."
