Madeleine McCann’s younger brother Sean to swim for Scotland at Glasgow 2026

The 21-year-old Loughborough University student is expected to compete in a number of longer-distance freestyle events at the Commonwealth Games

Sean McCann previously represented Scotland at the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago. Pic: Jamie Squire/Getty Images for Commonwealth Sport)

Madeleine McCann’s younger brother, Sean, has been selected to represent Scotland in swimming at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

McCann, a student at Loughborough University, is expected to compete in a number of longer-distance freestyle events when competition begins at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre on Thursday, and hopes a strong performance in Glasgow will strengthen his bid for selection to Team Great Britain for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. McCann is eligible to represent Scotland through his father, Gerry, who was born in Glasgow.

The 21-year-old and his twin sister were two years old when their sister Madeleine disappeared shortly before her fourth birthday during a family holiday in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007. Her disappearance has become one of the world’s most high-profile missing person cases and subject to ongoing media attention, while a Metropolitan police investigation into her disappearance has been open since 2011.

McCann previously represented Scotland at the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago, where he finished fifth in the 400m freestyle and seventh in the 1500m freestyle. He also competed for Great Britain in the 10km at the 2025 European Open Water Championships in Croatia.

In an Instagram video posted by Loughborough Swimming last year, McCann said his ambition was to compete at the Commonwealth Games and the Olympics and explained how he got into swimming, saying: “When I was eight, my mum [Kate McCann] took me to Loughborough Town [swimming club] and I hated it at first, didn’t want to go, but after a while, it grew on me and I’m still here now.” 

Speaking to the Joe Humphries Memorial Trust, which in 2021-22 awarded him a grant, McCann said: “I train nine times a week in the pool, as well as three gym sessions, totalling over 20 hours of training per week. I’ve had to remain extremely dedicated, getting up at 4am multiple mornings each week to train, since the age of 11.”

Guardian