He's been there, done that but hasn't yet got his Scottish Commonwealth Games T-shirt. But Michael Cole is determined to secure his uniform for Kuala Lumpur at the British Grand Prix finals starting Friday in Sheffield.
The 19-year-old was among the first to post a Commonwealth Games qualifying time. Unfortunately, it was too early. ''You had to do it after December 1 last year, and I did it last summer,'' he explained. ''But I know I'm going to make it in Sheffield.''
Dundee-born Cole, who now lives and trains in York, has the evidence to back up his confidence. He won four titles at the recent North-East of England Championships and was in fine form at the English County Championships.
Cole is eighth in the Scottish rankings with a time of 2:07.27 in the 200m medley. Ten Games places have been allocated for swimming with the Grand Prix finals and next month's Scottish Championships the final two qualifying events.
''But I don't want to wait for the Scottish Championships,'' said Cole. ''Next weekend is the big one. I only need to shave off a few tenths of a second and I'll be there. Then I'll be able to be more relaxed at the championships and, hopefully, will go even faster.''
Cole, a full-time swimmer, recently spent three weeks training in Florida with the Scottish squad. ''That really set me up for the challenges over the next few weeks,'' he continued.
All the leading Scots will be travelling south aiming to add their names to the list of qualifiers and relieve the pressure for the Scottish Championships at Glasgow's Tollcross Leisure Centre from June 11 to 14.
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