Glasgow's Michael Jamieson took an admirable silver medal in the 200m breaststroke final tonight.
The 23-year-old finished just 15 hundredths of a second behind Hungary's Daniel Gyurta, who set a new world record.
Jamieson, who had twice lowered the British record in qualifying for the final, said afterwards: "I'm so delighted.I was desperate to get on the podium and repay the faith and support we've had."
The UK's Andrew Willis, 21, finished last in the event, but the performance of the two young British swimmers was seen as encouraging for the future.
Third at the final turn, Jamieson and Gyurta went head to head over the last 50m with the Athens silver medallist lowering Christian Sprenger's world mark by 0.03secs to two minutes 07.28.
Jamieson clocked 2mins 07.43secs - the third fastest time in history.
The Scot is a Celtic fan and the final was shown on the big screens at Celtic Park ahead of the Euro game against HJK Helsinki.
Neil Lennon sent his best wishes to Jamieson and Willis ahead of the big event.
The Celtic manager said: “It is a great achievement for Michael to reach tonight's final. I know he is a big Celtic supporter and on behalf of everyone at the club, we wish him all the very best of luck for tonight. Hopefully we can welcome him back to Celtic Park as an Olympic medal winner in the near future."
Jamieson, whose father, also called Michael, played for Hearts and Alloa, appeared to have a future in football as he excelled in the junior ranks.
But a love of the pool saw Jamieson Jr scrap his footballing interest and focus on swimming, a move that paid off with his medal tonight.
Friends at Jamieson's home swimming club spoke of their delight. The group from the University of Edinburgh swim club gathered together to cheer him on as he won Great Britain's second medal in the pool.
Members included Kris Gilchrist, who held the British record for the 200m breaststroke until Jamieson broke it before lowering it again on his way to the final.
Gilchrist, 28, who trained with Jamieson at Bath and has known him for around nine years, said: "I actually can't believe how fast he just swam there. There's been a lot of talk about a potential gold medal there and he messaged me last night telling me what time he thought Daniel Gyurta was going to go and he wasn't far off.
"I've seen what Michael does in training and we knew he was capable of going at a good personal best but to go 2 minutes 07.43 seconds was an absolute unbelievable swim."
Of the British record, Gilchrist said: "I knew it was going to be broken but I didn't think it would be broken by that much, to be perfectly honest. I knew that him and Andrew Willis are absolute amazing athletes and I have had the pleasure of training with them so I had no illusions that it was going to last the Olympics but I can't believe how fast he has gone - it's unbelievable."
Gayle Biggart, 22, the club's outgoing president, said: "We are all absolutely delighted. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy, he trains really hard and he deserves it so much. We are so pleased for him. We're so proud, it's such an amazing achievement."
Shona Robison, Scotland's sports minister, said: "Scotland is proud of Michael Jamieson's fantastic swim tonight. Our swimmers are again proving a real inspiration, and I was honoured to be at the pool to see Michael put in an outstanding swim."
Angie Porter, director of Glasgow School of Sport, where Jamieson was a pupil, said: "Everyone at the school is delighted for Michael. He was with us from the age of 11 to 18 so we know just what it will mean to him to have won silver in his first ever Olympic Games. But it comes as no surprise because we know just how hard he works in and out of the pool.
"We were all looking forward to seeing him in action at London 2012 and, as always, he never let us down. He is an inspiration to our pupils and has shown just what can be achieved through hard work, commitment and passion for sport. I can't wait to catch up with him after the Games."
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