Ross Murdoch, a natural born racer

The swimmer - one of the Sunday Herald's Six to Follow to Glasgow 2014 - has enjoyed a stellar build-up to the Games, setting a British 50m breaststroke record of 27.28 at the 2014 Scottish Gas National Open Swimming Championships in April. He then followed up with a Scottish 100m breaststroke record of 59.56 - just 0.01 off Dan Sliwinski's British record - that month at the 2014 British Gas Swimming Champion ships.

His burgeoning list of successes include double gold in the 100m and 200m breaststroke at the Arena Grand Prix in Texas; victory in the 100m and second place behind Michael Jamieson in the 200m at the 2014 Flanders Speedo Cup in Antwerp; and returning from SwimCup 2013 in Amsterdam last December with a clean sweep of three golds.

A meticulous perfectionist, Murdoch admits to giving himself a hard time after his performance at the Mare Nostrum series in Barcelona last month failed to live up to his self-imposed high expectations. He finished seventh in the 50m breaststroke, but said he was going into the Games "on a high" after a decent outing at the subsequent British Gas International Swimming Meet in Manchester.

"Talk about being hard on myself - I don't think anyone puts more pressure on me than I do," he says. "The thing that frustrated me most was that I had been so consistent all year. In Barcelona I was a good 0.6 of a second off where I felt I should have been, but looking back on it I can't be too disappointed because it was the 20th race I'd done in three weeks. There was a bit of mental and neuromuscular fatigue. I started my taper three weeks out from the Games so I'm expecting to feel a lot fresher, both physically and mentally.

"Looking at my PB from the 100m in the trials it wasn't the perfect race so I feel I can still drop a little bit there. The 200m is possibly up there with the 100m now. I'm focusing on those but then looking at having a shot at the 50m as well. It could go either way for me. If I'm feeling good on the day I think I could put in a really good effort in the 200m."

His biggest rivals at the Games will include Scottish compatriot and Olympic silver medallist Jamieson and English swimmer Adam Peaty, who bettered Murdoch's British 50m breaststroke record with a time of 27.19 in Canet, France, last month. Peaty then broke the British 100m breaststroke record with a time of 59.25 in Barcelona two days later, ­usurping Sliwinski's time that has stood since 2009. Jamieson, meanwhile, remains the holder of the 200m breaststroke record with the 2:07.43 he set at London 2012.

"Adam and I have a great rivalry," says Murdoch. "We are good friends too but that rivalry means we push each other all the time. One of us will reach a milestone and then the other one wants to better it. We bring out the best in each other when we race. I think Adam and I are the same that way because no matter who is in the lane next to us, we are going to step up and race."

Then there is the raft of international names that Murdoch will be keeping a close eye on. "Christian Sprenger from Australia has posted one of the fastest times in the world this year for the 200m breaststroke and still holds the fastest time this season for the 100m. He's one of the men to beat for sure," he says.

"Cameron van der Burgh of South Africa, he wasn't rested for his trials but was still in the shape of being able to go 59.50 - that is close to my PB. These guys have been at the top of their game for so long that regardless of what shape they're in they are going to be pushing for medals.

"Calum Tait from Scotland could have a big swim in him and Andrew Willis of England, who trains with Michael Jamieson, he's someone you can't rule out either."

In world-class breaststroke Scotland are certainly punching above their weight, something that has left competing nations baffled as well as envious.

"It's a bit of a funny one," says Murdoch. "When I've been competing around the world people have picked up on it. They will say: 'Scottish and British breaststroke is just incredible, how do you guys do it?' But that's something even we can't answer. I suppose it's our heritage really, looking back at the successes of the past. You've got tons of guys who have performed at Olympic and Commonwealth level. It's what we do."

His own unfaltering work ethic must be a huge contributing factor in his own success. "I don't like coming second but then no swimmer does," he says. "Everyone wants to win and be the best. One thing I pride myself on is that, regardless of what form I think I'm in or what times I've been doing in training, I can always go out and race. I'm not going to give someone an easy job - I will make them work for it."

Certainly Stirling-based Murdoch isn't one for resting on his laurels or the plaudits of past glory. "It is about performance for me and I'm not thinking about previous races," he says. "Those are good to look at, to draw experience and knowledge from but it's in the past and you need to keep moving forward."

Jamieson recently said of Murdoch: "He's found the perfect training model that matches his physiology which is the dream set-up. Most athletes spend their whole career searching to fine tune that whereas he seems to have got it straight-away from a young age which is great for him and obviously makes it tougher for the rest of us."

Murdoch is quick to play down what could be seen as any suggestion of luck in his success. "I definitely feel I have worked for all the physiological benefits that Michael is talking about," he says. "I don't think I've had an easy job. Moving to Stirling and leaving home was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I was 18 and arrived here not knowing anyone. I was thrown in at the deep end and got battered up and down the pool for eight months until I started swimming well.

"I would say I'm mostly a technique swimmer. A lot of my swimming is based around that aspect and holding good form. I'm not someone who can swim the fastest for the longest, rather I can hold my technique. It puts me in an efficient place and means it isn't simply about power or muscling through."

Murdoch switched coaches last autumn after Rob Greenwood, who formerly oversaw the British Gas Stirling ITC programme, was appointed head coach of the British Para-Swimming programme. He now trains under Ben Higson and says he has blossomed under that guidance.

"Ben has a fresh approach to coaching that is different from Rob," he says. "Both are fantastic coaches in their own ways but I think Ben and I just clicked perfectly right at the start of the season. We both knew what I needed to do to get better.

"I do consider myself a perfectionist and if you were to ask Ben I think he would say the same thing. There is not a training session that goes past where I'm not looking at my stroke and being critical when it's not good enough. I do a lot of my stroke on feel so I'm always thinking about that and how much my body is in the correct alignment."

It is Murdoch's belief that the home crowd support will be a critical motivating factor for many of the Scottish athletes as they push for medals. "Based on what happened for me at the British Champion- ships I feel it's going to make a huge difference," he says. "In the semi-finals I had an all-out effort swim in the 100m and felt I had nothing else to give. I went back to my coach Ben and said: 'That was everything. There is nothing else I can possibly do to go physically faster than that.'

"When I walked out poolside for the final I had about 20 friends and family in the crowd. Just hearing them shouting my name made me want to perform and put on a good show. When we turn up at the Games with all of the stands shouting for Scotland, that is going to be the most incredible feeling ever."