DUNCAN Scott dived deep into the Scottish sporting history books as the nation’s gold rush in the Gold Coast stepped up a gear. This 20-year-old from Alloa rubber-stamped his emergence as the nation’s new swimming superstar when he moved onto a remarkable five medals from this games alone, taking a page out of watching idol Ian Thorpe’s book when plundering gold from a world class 100m field then making it a high five with bronze medal number four as a cog in the 4x200 freestyle relay alongside Stephen Milne, Mark Szaranek and Dan Wallace. At a stroke, he supersedes the only two men on the all-time lists who have ever previously taken four medals at the same games, swimmer Gregor Tait in Melbourne in 2006 and shooter Jon Hammond in Delhi in 2010.

Having made collecting medals part of their five-a-day in the opening three days of the games, Scott was merely the poster boy as Team Scotland showed they still had the appetite for further glory. There were eight medals in all, and three golds. Lawn bowls triples team of Darren Burnett, Derek Oliver and Ronnie Duncan got the ball rolling out in Broadbeach earlier in the day, then cyclist Mark Stewart rounded off an inspired track cycling campaign with a thrilling triumph against the odds in the points race which moved the cyclists’ tally into double figures and will live long in the memory.

With Neah Evans claiming silver in the scratch race, hammer thrower Mark Dry defying recent injury problems to recreate his bronze from Glasgow 2014 and gymnast Daniel Purvis finishing ahead of Olympic champion Max Whitlock on the floor for his second bronze medal of the games, this was Scotland’s Super Sunday, the day our games hit top gear.

Chasing the 30 medals which would represent the nation’s biggest ever haul from an overseas games, that is 23 on the board after just four days of competition. And by the time you read this, Alex ‘Tattie’ Marshall and Paul Foster – already secure of at least a silver – will have made it 24 in the bowls pairs.

“The record is not something I’d thought about before,” said Scott. “This is the first time I’ve really thought about it, to be honest.”

While the 20-year-old Strathallan School former pupil rather reluctantly conceded he is the new face of the sport in this country, he said the strength and depth in the sport in Scotland right now was a constant upwards pressure on performance. “I don’t know if I’m the face, if I am then great,” said Scott. “But we have so many different faces in Scottish swimming who can compete at such a high level it doesn’t matter who it is. We all strive to do the best and that’s why Scottish swimming is in such a good place right now. It’s extraordinary that Hannah Miley isn’t the face. She went gold, gold, silver. She’s an absolute legend of the sport and in Scottish swimming I don’t know anyone that’s not looked up to her.”

The moment Scott, swimming from lane six, came on strong late on to touch first in a blanket finish at a breathless 12,000 capacity Optus Aquatics Centre in a time of 48.02, just thirteen hundredths ahead of global superstars Chad Le Clos of South Africa and Kyle Chalmers of Australia, will go down in Scottish sporting folklore for a while. Once he was sure he could believe his eyes as he gazed up at the scoreboard, he smashed the water in euphoria.

“I maybe left it a bit too late!” joked Scott. “Even my coach was on edge. I was just trying to race Chad next to me, because I couldn’t see past him. I was a bit behind at 50 and even at 75, so I was just trying to catch him. He goes out really fast and works to his strengths. But I’ve got a really strong last 25 and managed to get my hand on the wall first. If some of the other boys were on their day, it might have been a different story. Chad is a great guy. He was first to congratulate me. He’s just a great sportsman. He is unbelievable – as his dad said!’

“And in the relay, you know, the boys just swam incredibly well. And you know, that’s the second medal I’ve picked up in a relay event, so I couldn’t have the medal count I do without the teams I’ve been swimming with.”

Next for Scott is a rare luxury – a day off. He will spend it having a lie in and catching up with his parents. But then it is back to work because two more chances - the 200IM and the 4x100 relay medley - remain to embellish his record further. Now that really would be a magnificent seven.