THE date in December is already circled in Ross Murdoch’s calendar. It is not Christmas that the Commonwealth Games gold-medal winner is excitedly looking forward to, nor is it the Duel in the Pool when the cream of European and American swimming will converge in Indianapolis for an event that has been compared to golf’s Ryder Cup but with fewer garish jumpers.

No, it is the seventh instalment of the Star Wars series – set to hit UK cinemas on December 17 - that has the 21 year-old from Balfron all in a lather. The original trilogy had been out for 11 years by the time Murdoch was born but that has not prevented him from becoming a massive fan in recent times.

“I’m really looking forward to the new film coming out,” he says, doing well not to bounce up and down in his seat. “I remember as a young boy going to see The Phantom Menace, and I must have watched the original trilogy about 500 times. A while ago I bought all the blu-rays so I’m absolutely buzzing for the new film coming out. That will an early Christmas present to myself. I can’t wait.”

The title of the forthcoming movie is The Force Awakens which is a fairly apt way to describe Murdoch’s swimming experiences in 2015. Laid low by glandular fever late last year that greatly restricted his schedule at the start of this year, he set aside his disappointment at failing to qualify for the 200m breaststroke – his favoured event – at the recent world championships in Russia by taking bronze in the 100m instead. It delivered huge personal satisfaction to Murdoch, knowing that he had the resolve and determination to rebound from a debilitating setback to return to the podium. Proudly dangling his medal from his arm, he revealed just how much that meant to him.

“I feel my individual medal from Kazan [he also won gold in the mixed medley] means a little bit more to me than my Commonwealth gold,” he adds. “That experience in Glasgow is one that I will never forget. I cried on the podium as it meant so much to me. I don’t often get to swim for Scotland so to hear the national anthem for me and the crowd sign it back was such an emotional night that I’ll never forget. But I had worked hard going into those Games and was confident I was going to perform. Everything went perfectly.

“This year it’s been a lot tougher. I had a month out of the water and there was always a doubt over whether I could perform against the best in the world. Could I hold my bottle in a major final? I had such a poor semi-final swim and was in lane eight for the final, although that meant I could just focus on my own race as I had no idea what was going on in the middle of the pool. Looking back there was so much I had gone through just to get to that point so to produce my best and come away with a medal in that pressured environment – that meant a lot to me.

“My coach Ben Higson here at the University of Stirling always tells me we don’t train to swim our best on our best day, but so your worst day is good enough to get on the podium. And that’s what that was. It was making the best of a bad situation.”

Competing with the best is what Murdoch hopes to do at the Olympics in Rio next August. Getting there, however, will be tricky in itself. Each competing nation can only enter two swimmers for each category and Murdoch thinks making the team could well be harder than winning a medal. The trials at Glasgow’s Tollcross pool in April could be as fast as anything seen in Brazil.

“It will be tougher to make this team that it will be to make the Olympic final – fact,” he says. “Britain is leading the way in terms of breaststrokers. Myself and Michael [Jamieson] are the only two Brits to have gone sub 2:08 minutes [for the 200m breaststroke] but I’ve got a sneaky feeling there might be a couple more this season. So it will take a really quick time just to make the team, one that might win an Olympic medal.”

Such is Murdoch’s determination to make the team that he has decided to cut out anything he feels could hinder his chances.

“Every single time I make a decision it has to be because it is going to help me for Rio. I really enjoy good food but that is going to have to go on hold. Sometimes it really is just chicken and vegetables every day. My Kryptonite, and I have to limit myself to one a year, is a pizza crunch. I love a deep-fried pizza and I had one on my time off and it was absolutely glorious. So I have to pick my moment to have it as it’s about 4000 calories. When you’re in season you’re eating for fuel, not for taste. It’s about helping you perform at your best.”

If Murdoch was one of the faces of Glasgow 2014, then another was Charlie Flynn. The pair remain in touch as the boxer embarks on his professional fight career and Murdoch visibly beams as Flynn’s name comes up in conversation.

“I’ve not been to see any of his pro fights yet but I still get on really well with Chuckie. He’s a great lad. He just doesn’t care who he’s speaking to, or the fact he’s now a professional fighter. He’s not changed one bit and I absolutely adore him for that. He’s gone to the Commonwealth Games, won a gold medal and walked out the same boy.

“I first met him in 2011 when we both turned up at the Scottish Institute at the Palace of Arts in Glasgow. We were talking about what we were doing and what our goals were. He said he wanted to go to Glasgow and that’s what I wanted to do, too. So we had the same dream and we were talking about how cool it would be if we both got gold medals. And then I didn’t see him again until the bus back from the closing ceremony and I called him over and said, “Charlie, mate, we did it. We spoke about his three years ago and we’ve both done it.” And that was a nice moment.”