McLean bids to come top of the class at World University Games

The 20-year-old University of Stirling student enjoyed a stellar year in the pool in 2018, winning bronze medals at the Commonwealth Games and European Championships.

He will be competing in Naples as one of the more experienced swimmers in his categories but McLean knows the dangers or becoming complacent and insists the World University Games has the potential to be the toughest challenge he's ever faced.

"The World University Games is a really high-quality meet. I don't think it should be disregarded in any way and if anything, I think it could be harder than the Commonwealth Games or the Europeans," said McLean.

"I will be going there with an empty head, keeping expectations of myself to a minimum, because whenever I expect too much from myself things tend to go south. "I'm just going to take everything as it comes. I try and forget who has done what before the meet and just treat it as a fresh race."

Competing in 100m and 200m freestyle, McLean will be making his World University Games debut when the multi-sport event gets underway in Naples, Italy next month. The Universiade is widely recognised as the second largest multi-sport Games in the world after the Olympics, with over 10,000 participants from more than 150 countries.

More than 80 athletes across nine sports will take their place in Team Great Britain in Naples, representing institutions from across the UK.

With two international bronze medals already under his belt, McLean has made himself one to watch at the event but he knows he will have to take his performances up another notch if he wants to put his name in contention for Tokyo 2020. "I want to keep improving ahead of a big year in 2020. I want to try and get as close to Olympic qualification as possible," he added.

"Straight after the Europeans last summer, the idea was floating about so it's hard not to focus on it.

"Once the World University Games are over, all eyes are on Olympic qualification, so everyone will certainly be bringing their A game.

"I'm going to use the Games to get as close to the qualification standard as possible to take a bit of stress off from the rest of the season."

Sportsbeat 2019