The parents of Madeleine McCann were present to support their son Sean as he secured qualification for the 400m freestyle final during his Commonwealth Games debut representing Scotland.

The 21-year-old Loughborough University student received strong applause from spectators when introduced and delivered a solid performance to finish fourth in his heat against an Olympic champion and a Paris 2024 silver medalist.

The result earned him eighth place for the Saturday evening final, prompting McCann to express pride and surprise at his achievement. “I’m buzzing,” he said.

“It was not an expected outcome coming into the event given the strength of the competition, but I am thrilled to have advanced. I would not describe it as pressure, yet nerves were evident with the large crowd present and my desire to perform well for myself and Team Scotland.

“Nervousness was definitely there, but I am pleased to have produced a good swim. The crowd support was outstanding and audible throughout, pushing me to give everything in the closing 100m.”

McCann was raised in England yet qualifies for Scotland through his father Gerry, who joined his mother Kate at the Tollcross Swimming Centre to cheer him on. He and his twin sister Amelie were two years old when Madeleine, then three, disappeared during a family holiday in Praia Da Luz, Portugal, in 2007.

He began swimming at Charnwood Triathlon Club aged eight and joined the high-performance City of Leicester club by age ten. He has competed in the Scottish swimming program since his teenage years.

Discussing his motivation for the sport, he explained: “I have enjoyed competing since a young age. That enjoyment makes the long training hours worthwhile when performing before a crowd like this and swimming to the best of my ability.”

McCann studies chemical engineering at Loughborough where he is coached by Andi Manley, who leads the England team in Glasgow. He will also race in the 800m and 1500m freestyle and sees this as preparation for potential Olympic selection at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.

“The Olympics remain a further step ahead, so representing Scotland here provides a useful foundation,” he said. “A couple more years of work should place my name in contention.”

McCann recorded a time of 3min 52.65sec in a heat won by Australia’s Benjamin Goedemans in 3:46.87, narrowly ahead of Northern Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen, the Olympic 800m freestyle champion, with Paris 2024 400m freestyle silver medalist Elijah Winnington in third.

Australia’s Sam Short, the 2023 world 400m freestyle champion, led qualifying for the final scheduled at 7.05pm on Saturday with a time of 3:46.23.