Murdoch happy to blow the cobwebs away in the pool

Murdoch, who represented Team GB in Rio last summer, dominated the breaststroke events at Sheffield's Ponds Forge, taking titles over 50m, 100m and 200m in University of Stirling colours.

Taking place from Friday to Sunday, BUCS Nationals saw more than 6,000 students from up and down the country descend on the Steel City for three action-packed days of sport.

"It's all about blowing off the cobwebs really," said Murdoch. "It's my first long course finals series of 2016-17 so the 50m was a little bit slow for me, but it's ok but I'm not quite race ready yet.

"The 200m was really good, I was delighted with it, particularly at this point of the season.

"I love competing at BUCS, it's a good meet. It falls right in the middle of a really intense period of racing for everybody at British Swimming.

"It's a crucial meet for us, and it's always great to represent my university and try and give back. They've had a lot of time for me over the years."

Next up for 23-year-old Murdoch is trip across the Atlantic, before returning to Sheffield for this year's British Championships, which also act as trials for the upcoming World Championships in July and the Commonwealth Games in Australia next year.

And with triple gold already under his belt this season, Murdoch insists confidence is high as he continues to impress on the world stage.

"Over the next couple of weeks, I'm heading to Indianapolis with British Swimming," he said. "I'm part of a squad of maybe 46 swimmers I think.

"It's a big team going out, so I'm honoured to be part of it and wear a British cap again.

"The Championships in April double up as World and Commonwealth trials for Scotland, so it's an important couple of months.

"I'm feeling pretty good, I'm in a good place right now. I'm swimming quite well off the back of the three-week block of training in Mexico at 2,000m, so I'm by no means rested."

Sportsbeat 2017