Gold for Jack McMillan at major European swim meet

University of Stirling swimmer Jack McMillan – an Olympic and World champion – has won gold for Great Britain at the European Short Course Championships in Poland.

The 25-year-old, from Belfast, was first to the wall in the 400m Freestyle with a time of 3:36.33 – ahead of Germany’s Lukas Martens (3:36.51) and Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen (3:37.02).

It is just the latest success for Jack who won gold with Great Britain in the Men’s 4x200m Freestyle Relay at both last year’s Olympics and this year’s World Championships.

Milestone

David Bond, Director of Performance Sport at the University of Stirling – Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence, said: “A massive congratulations to Jack on this brilliant achievement – to win an individual gold on the international stage is a milestone moment for him and everyone at University of Stirling Sport is delighted for him. Jack continues to develop under the guidance of coaches Ben Higson and Bradley Hay here at Scotland’s University for Sporting Excellence and he has an exciting few months ahead as preparations ramp up for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.”

Jack – who previously swam for Team Ireland, representing them at the Tokyo Olympics – switched his allegiance to Great Britain in 2022, when he moved to the University to swim under then Head Coach Steven Tigg, now at Aquatics GB. He represented Northern Ireland at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022; Great Britain at the Olympics in Paris 2024 and at the World Championships in Singapore earlier this year.

European competition

University of Stirling swimmers will be in further action across the week at the European Aquatics Short Course Championships in Lublin, Poland. Tonight (Wednesday 3 December), Katie Shanahan will compete in the Women’s 200m Backstroke Final, Angharad Evans in the Women’s 100m Breaststroke Final, Tom Dean in the Men’s 100m Individual Medley Semi-Final, and Freya Anderson in the Women’s 200m Freestyle Semi-Final.

University of Stirling involvement across the rest of this week:

• Men’s 100m Freestyle: Jack McMillan
• Men’s 100m Individual Medley: Tom Dean
• Men’s 200m Breaststroke: Tom Dean
• Men’s 200m Freestyle: Jack McMillan, Duncan Scott
• Men’s 200m Individual Medley: Tom Dean, Duncan Scott
• Men’s 400m Individual Medley: Tom Dean
• Women’s 50m Breaststroke: Angharad Evans
• Women’s 100m Backstroke: Katie Shanahan
• Women’s 100m Breaststroke: Angharad Evans
• Women’s 100m Freestyle: Freya Anderson
• Women’s 200m Backstroke: Katie Shanahan
• Women’s 200m Breaststroke: Angharad Evans
• Women’s 200m Freestyle: Freya Anderson
• Women’s 200m Individual Medley: Katie Shanahan
• Women’s 400m Individual Medley: Katie Shanahan

Scholarships

At Stirling, athletes have access to world-class facilities, including a 50-metre pool, unrivalled outdoor space, and state-of-the-art strength and conditioning suites. In addition to its coaching and facilities, Stirling’s International Sports Scholarship Programme – one of the largest high-performance programmes in the UK – offers athletes funding support, academic flexibility, equipment and kit. It has supported hundreds of athletes since its inception in 1981 – with many competing on the world stage, including at the Olympics and Commonwealth Games.

Core sports include swimming, triathlon, football, golf, tennis, rugby and curling, while individual scholarships cover all Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games sports.

Read more about high-performance sport at the University of Stirling.