GLENGARNOCK teenager Rory Dickson cemented his reputation as one of the young Scottish swimmers to watch in 2018 with a double medal-winning performance.

The 16-year-old, who trains with the North Ayrshire Amateur Swimming Club, stormed to silver medals in the 15/16 year old 200m IM and the 200m Freestyle at the prestigious Brodies Scottish School Swimming Championships held in East Kilbride.

Rory, swimming under the banner of Garnock Academy for the competition, came within a whisker of snatching the gold medal in the IM but was nevertheless delighted with his second place.

“I’m very pleased with the medals but I’m even more pleased with the times at this stage in the season.”, said the swimmer who has already secured his place at the British Championships in Edinburgh next month.

“It was great to get out there and race against the competitors I’ll be going up against at the Scottish National Age Groups championships in a few week’s time. It’s always an enjoyable experience to race against them and, of course, I’m very proud to represent my school.”

Head coach Ross Douglas, a former double Scottish Schools Champion himself, was thrilled with Rory’s performances.

“The word I’d use to sum it is ‘exciting. Rory came away with two silvers but he narrowly missed gold in both events. It was a really dogged fight.

“The one thing you can never question about Rory is that in the final moments you know he’s going to give you everything he’s got.

“I’m really excited. We’ve got a couple more months of the grind but everything is looking on course for a strong 2018, and it’s great to be able to say that so early in the season," the coach added.