Humiliation for SNP as Team GB Olympic medallist calls them out over 'real shame'

Olympic medallist Duncan Scott has criticised the closure of swimming pools in the UK during a televised interview today, around the same time SNP leader John Swinney congratulated the Olympian in a statement.

Swinney spoke of Scott's "commitment and determination" and declared: "I am sure his remarkable achievements will inspire future generations of Scottish swimmers."

At the time of the statement, Scott was vocalising his disappointment about the closure of local swimming pools, which has been attributed to decisions made by local governments in Scotland, in a fresh humiliation for the Nationalist party, which losts most of its seats in Westminster after the General Election on July 4.

When speaking to Sharron Davies about the importance of swimming, he said: “I think we've seen that during Covid, people are unable to exercise and these leisure centres are community hubs, up and down the country, whether that is in Scotland or England, Wales and Northern Ireland, to see them closing is a real shame, it could be the elderly that go there, the injured, that's where I started to learn to swim or yourself or others.

“It’s really important that we keep these environments open for this generation but also for future ones as well."

The Observatory for Sport in Scotland has highlighted the issue as being of great concern, saying: “The closure of community sport and leisure facilities across Scotland is beginning to spiral, as predicted, with West Lothian now confirming three leisure centres will close permanently this year.

“Still, however, there appears to be little cohesion across Scotland in shifting to the kinds of sustainable models of community facility management being widely adopted across Europe.”

In the report, it also says this was “not helped by the Scottish Government”.

Scott won a sports scholarship to Strathallan School in Perthshire which proved to be vital as the boarding school had an onsite swimming pool. Alloa, the town where Scott grew up, lost its Leisure Bowl in 2021 due to closure, leaving the area of Clackmannanshire as the only local authority in Scotland with no public pool.

The cost of a replacement programme for Scotland’s pools has been estimated at a huge £40.5million a year. This comes at a time when councils are already facing huge budget cuts.

Duncan Scott is now Scotland's most decorated Olympian after claiming his eighth medal - a silver in the men's 200 metres individual medley final on Friday.

The Glasgow-born swimmer is now ahead of Scotland’s Sir Chris Hoy in terms of medals won.