July 28, 2014

Colin Duncan

UNITY among Team Scotland swimmers propelled relay quartet to deliver silver stunner says Robbie Renwick.

TOGETHER in the pool. United out of it.

Robbie Renwick believes the unity within Team Scotland helped propel the 4x200m relay squad to arguably the performance of the Games so far at Tollcross last night.

And he’s hoping the magnificent display will help inspire the next generation of homegrown athletes.

Renwick, Daniel Wallace, Stephen Milne and Duncan Scott were awe-inspiring as they claimed silver in what was a truly stunning finale.

Australia were meant to win the race by a mile so it was some achievement for the Scots to run them so close, with South Africa also playing their part in the race of the week.

The home quartet produced the swim of their lives as they went toe-to-toe with the powerhouse nations. They slugged it out for 16 engrossing laps as the Tollcross crowd whipped themselves into a frenzy.

Little separated the three countries before Thomas Fraser-Holmes, anchoring the men from Down Under, produced an extraordinary last leg.

Hannah Miley and 13-year-old Erraid Davies had set the tone with two breathtaking performances of their own to claim bronze medals earlier in the evening.

But the two pint-sized warriors were upstaged at the death by the Fab Four, who knocked an incredible five seconds off the Scottish record set in Melbourne eight years ago.

Scotland took silver then in this race and they filled the same spot in Delhi four years later but neither of those swims came close to matching yesterday’s nerve-shredding drama.

It was noticeable that virtually ever member of the home swimming team was on the sidelines roaring the boys home with Michael Jamieson filling the role as chief cheerleader.

Despite his personal pain at these Games it said a lot about Jamieson. That same attitude has coursed its way through the entire team and Renwick, who swam the vital fourth leg, is convinced that’s the reason why they have won 11 swimming medals already with the prospect of more.

He said: “I’ve never been part of a team that is so together. It is incredible to be part of.

“We all had an individual job and knew exactly what we were doing.

“The crowd have been fantastic and we just hope we have inspired the next generation. They are already coming through to a degree because Duncan is 17. He is the future right now.”

Renwick now has a hat-trick of silver medals in this event although he felt this might have been gold.

He said: “I can’t complain and it was a fantastic effort. The boys set me up brilliantly and I was leading the race right up until the last 50 when everything just fell off.

“Still I’m chuffed to bits to get the silver and it is a really proud moment for all the boys.

“It has been a really tough few days so to get a silver with these boys has been a real highlight.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t hear Flower of Scotland at the medal ceremony but we’ll be back in four years’ time.”

After qualifying third quickest from the morning heats Scotland changed three of their four swimmers with only Renwick remaining.

Wallace, fresh from winning gold in the 400m individual medley, Milne and teenager Scott were drafted in.

Scott, 17, was confident of getting a place on the podium but even he was taken aback by the amazing performance.

He said: “We all swam way quicker than we expected. We knew we had a medal in us and just didn’t know what colour it was.

“It was an incredible last leg from the Australian and Robbie did really well to claim second.

“We have a good mix of older and younger swimmers – we are all learning from each other.”

The atmosphere inside Tollcross has been outstanding since the start of the Games but it was turbo-charged at last night’s final event.

Wallace believes they played a huge part in his individual triumph and he was desperate to repay them with another heroic effort.

He said: “There was a bit of pressure but with the crowd here to support us we just wanted to raise our game and do it for them.

“We delivered in an incredible race. I am so proud of that performance. It was some experience.”

It certainly was.

Read the original article at the Daily Record website.