DUNCAN Scott is back at the swimming pool in Troon where it all got started. To be precise, he is standing in the car park outside it. An untimely fire alarm has caused an impromptu evacuation of this low key little facility where he is helping inspire a new generation of swimming talent, not to mention causing his handlers to scramble ever so slightly to ensure the safe-keeping of the six Commonwealth medals he has in his possession. Suffice to say the fuss is a far cry to Scott’s first visit to this arena as a child. Back then, all he needed was a set of armbands, a pair of trunks, some spare underwear and money for a locker.

“It is weird to be back,” says Scott, a Learn to Swim ambassador in partnership with Scottish Water. “This is my first time here since I was about seven or eight years old. But it is cool too - I learned to swim in the little baby pool over there. My dad would take myself and my sister to the pool in Troon every Sunday where he would teach us how to swim. When I walked in, everything looked pretty small to be honest!”

By the time Scott had hit seven or eight, now part of the South Ayrshire swim team under the watchful eye of coaches such as Mike Boles and Maria Hughes, he was already showing potential, not to mention glimpses of the versatility in the various strokes which saw him return from the Gold Coast with such an assortment of precious metal. “He was just a wee smiley boy back then,” said Hughes, “But he was speedy. As soon as he was in the club, we got him into the first mini league team we could get him into. Even then he was winning.”

While there were points in his journey, which continued at Alloa and Strathallan boarding school, where Scott remembers the sensation of following others to the finish line, first place is a position he has got increasingly used to – even amongst the big dogs of world swimming like Kyle Chalmers and Chad Le Clos in the frenzied last strokes of the Commonwealth 100m freestyle final. That was played out in front of 12,000 supporters in the stands, and a watching TV audience in Australia alone of two million people.

The most exciting thing, though, about Scott’s journey is the fact that it is just getting started. While the 20-year-old, Team Scotland’s closing ceremony flagbearer, was received warmly upon his return to the University of Stirling campus, he was thrust back into studying for a Business of Sport exam on Tuesday, happy to be regarded as just another student. “The reception we got at Stirling Uni was great,” he said. “The students I know I have obviously been speaking to me as normal, maybe some of the ones I don’t know look at me a little bit differently, maybe not. But a lot of the time no-one looks and I go back to being a normal student - which is really good.”

Revision aside, Scott’s main preparations pertain to the starring role he is set to play at the European Championships in Tollcross in August. Of the 43-strong GB team for the event, only the likes of Adam Peaty and James Wilby will rival him for star billing, and neither will carry the same backing for the hometown crowd. Scott’s 100m freestyle time in the Gold Coast might have been the fifth fastest in the world this year, but it is still 0.27 slower than that achieved by Russia’s Vladimir Morozov, while his 200m freestyle best is only third fastest by a European this year behind Danas Rapsys of Lithuania and Aleksandr Krasnych of Russia. In other words, this is no time to rest on his laurels. “A European Championships in my kind of home town, that will be pretty special,” said Scott. “The Italians will be pretty strong, as they always are, the Russians and the Europeans in general are pretty strong but then wherever I go around the world people are pretty strong in the events I do! I wouldn’t say I will be favourite in the 100 free. Morozov is going in with the fastest time in the world this year but I would say it is pretty close. The 100 and 200 free are my main events then I just need to look at the schedule and what relays I might be involved in.”

Scott’s success story seems to be rubbing off on his local football team. Ever since showing off those medals at Recreation Park at half time during a league meeting with Raith Rovers, Alloa Athletic have pieced together a run which sees them 2-0 up at half-time against the same opponents in their League One play-off semi-final. “That was a pretty cool day,” said Scott. “Steven [Tigg, his coach] was there, as were my mum, my dad and my flatmate Martin. We ended up winning so Mike [Mulraney, the Alloa chairman] said I could come back. I got a Rolls Royce Phantom to the ground. They treated me incredibly well and it is great to see we are picking up good results.”