EIGHT University of Stirling swimmers, representing four countries, are jetting off to Japan for the World Aquatics Championships.

Five of the cohort, including Duncan Scott, will be representing Britain at the prestigious competition while three others will be flying flags for Angola, Kenya and Zimbabwe.

Head performance swim coach Steve Tigg will also travel with British Swimming to the event, to be held in Fukuoka between July 14 and 30.

The British team are flying out to their holding camp today, July 11, with the swimmers from Africa due to follow in the coming days.

The championships will run from July 23 to 30 with Stirling swimmers Duncan Scott, Katie Shanahan, Lucy Hope, Keanna MacInnes and Jack McMillan are all part of the 29-strong British team.

Salvador Gordo will swim for Angola, Swaleh Talib for Kenya, and Paige Van Der Westhuizen for Zimbabwe.

Duncan Scott, 26, said: “The world championships mean a lot to me.

“It’s one of the biggest events in our sport and I’ve plenty of good memories in Japan; I’m really looking forward to heading out there.

“I’m kicking off with relays and I’m part of some amazing relay teams with the 4x200m freestyle winning in Tokyo [2020 Olympics] and we’ve had some good world championships successes in that relay too.

“I guess, we are there to win.

“And then we have the 4x100m freestyle; I wouldn’t say that we’ve properly tested that at a world level yet, but we have got a great team.

“For my individual event, the 200m individual medley, it is going to be a real fight because there’s plenty of talent in there: world championship medallists from last year, Olympic medallists as well.

“If I can better my time that I did in April, then that will give me a great chance.”

For Salvador Gordo, representing Angola is always “an honour”.

He added: “To do it again, at a world championships, is an even greater honour and I’m very excited to swim fast alongside some very fast people.

“I just want to set some good times, hopefully get a personal best, which will help me set off on my path to qualifying for the next Olympics.”

Reflecting on the support he has received at Stirling, he added: “The high-performance programme has helped me achieve my goals in many ways; I’ve learned how to be a better teammate, a better leader, and, overall, a better person.”