Sean McCann takes to the pool at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow today, competing in the 400m freestyle heats in what marks his senior international debut. The 21-year-old distance swimmer qualifies to represent Scotland through his father Gerry, who was born in the city.
Beyond the 400m, he is also entered in the 800m and 1500m freestyle events later in the week. His twin sister Amelie, a regular triathlon competitor, is expected to be among the spectators alongside both parents.
McCann has already tasted international competition, reaching the finals of both the 400m and 1500m freestyle at the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad. He has also earned selection for the European Open Water Championships as a Great Britain representative.
His journey to elite swimming began in the most unlikely fashion. In her 2011 memoir, Kate McCann described taking the toddler twins for lessons at the same pool where Madeleine had learned to swim just a year earlier.
Sean McCann is set to represent Scotland at the 2026 Commonwealth Games
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Amelie took to the water without hesitation, but Sean was a different story entirely. He clung to his mother, sobbing and refusing to let go.
Kate recalled the agonising dilemma: “Go for the easy option and take him out with me? He’d learn to swim one day – it didn’t have to be now.”
The swimming instructor’s advice was blunt: “Hand him to me and walk away.” She did, watching her “little Seany, all red-faced, blotchy and sobbing” through the poolside glass.
From that tearful beginning, he transformed himself into one of Scotland’s most promising distance freestylers.
Throughout his teenage years, his parents would drive him to Braunstone Leisure Centre, roughly 20 minutes from the family home in Rothley, Leicestershire. The early morning alarm was set for 4am.
Sean McCann, 20, has competitively swam since the age of eight
His weekly schedule was punishing: up to nine two-hour pool sessions supplemented by two or three intensive gym workouts. A former member of his coaching team told the Daily Mail that Kate and Gerry “encouraged their children, but didn’t push them.”
The same insider described Sean as “really driven and never one to take the easiest route,” calling his progression an inspiration.
For university, McCann chose Loughborough, drawn by its renowned sporting infrastructure. He is reading chemical engineering there, balancing academic demands with the relentless training that elite distance swimming requires.
Sean himself spoke this week of his enthusiasm for the occasion. “It’s the pinnacle really – of representing Scotland in the Commonwealth Games, and especially at a home games,” he said. “I’ve got lots of family up in Glasgow so that makes it even more special.”
The Games hold personal significance: he attended as a nine-year-old spectator in 2014. “To make it now, 12 years later, is really a full circle moment,” he said.
On his approach in the pool, McCann was characteristically measured. “I always tend to go out quite slow and build my way into a race. That’s just how I like to pace it.”
His former coach recalled attending the trials in London and described watching McCann’s development as a privilege. “It was great to watch him and talk to him between prep, to be a part of it and see his journey unfold.”
Sean McCann’s (right) sister Madeline McCann disappeared in 2007
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GETTYSport runs deep in the McCann family. Gerry was once the quickest middle-distance runner in Scotland for his age group over 800m, and the couple’s first date involved a run together. Kate swam throughout her pregnancy with Madeleine, right up until the day before giving birth.
For Kate, physical activity has served as more than recreation. After the family’s return from Portugal in 2007, running and swimming became essential outlets, a means of maintaining composure through unimaginable circumstances.
A relative, retired headteacher Brian Kennedy, has noted that sport helped keep the family “grounded and focused.”
Nearly two decades on, with Madeleine’s fate still unknown, the McCann name is poised to carry a new association. Their son’s emergence on the international stage offers the family something they have long deserved: recognition beyond tragedy.