Duncan Scott believes coming home to a freezing flat will soon bring him back down to earth after his Commonwealth Games heroics.
But the swimmer was careful not to get too high after his six-medal haul in Australia, which was the best by a Scot at a Commonwealth Games.
The Stirling University student won one gold, one silver and four bronze medals to add to the relay silver he collected at Glasgow 2014. However, the 20-year-old does not expect life to change much.
“My flatmate was away so I reckon my flat will be freezing,” he said after arriving at Glasgow Airport. “I’ve got an exam in three weeks so it will be the same old, same old.”
Scott was Team Scotland’s flag-bearer at the closing ceremony but he shielded himself from much of the hype.
“When I’m in a competition like this, the night before I swim I turn off all social media,” he said. “It will be a day or two after I finish competing before I turn it on.
“But it’s controlled the way I turn it on. I don’t see notifications. I have gradually been seeing messages coming in and all the hype.
“The support and messages I’ve had have been amazing and I’ve always had great support from family, friends and beyond.
“A couple of people in the airport noticed me but other than that it’s the same.”
Scott insists he took as much pleasure in being part of Scotland’s historic 44-medal collection as his own success.
“It’s an honour,” said Scott, who clinched a place in the Great Britain squad for Glasgow’s European championships in August.
“Everyone’s contribution was phenomenal. The bad thing with swimming is you don’t get to go to the opening ceremony, but you have time afterwards to spectate.
“Every night we went to the diving to support Grace Reid, Lucas Thomson, Gemma McArthur and James Heatly, and they brought home two medals as well.”
Heatly took bronze in the one metre springboard to claim Scotland’s first diving medal since his late grandfather, Sir Peter Heatly, won gold 60 years earlier.
The 20-year-old was happy to come home to some extra publicity after his surprise success.
“My phone has been going off so I can’t wait to reply to all these messages,” the Edinburgh athlete said.
