True greatness in sport is often measured in an athlete’s ability to come back from setbacks even stronger than before.
And as Glasgow prepares to host the 20th Commonwealth Games, it’s a mantra that one Fife swimmer has taken to heart.
All his life, Auchtermuchty’s Stefan Hoggan has had to overcome adversity and has dedicated a huge portion of his life to competing in the pool despite being born with one half of his right arm missing.
But that has not stopped him becoming one of the country’s leading swimmers in his class, and it certainly will not stop him from achieving his dream of making it on to Team Scotland this year.
The 21-year-old, who trains with the Carnegie Swimming Club in Dunfermline under renowned coach John Szaranek, narrowly missed out on a place in the GB Paralympics squad for London 2012 but is determined to put that bitter disappointment behind him over the coming months and years.
Qualifying for the Rio Paralympics in 2016 is high on his agenda but Hoggan’s experiences of the last few years have made him all the more motivated to succeed when the trials for Glasgow come around in April.
“I just missed out on the London Paralympic Games and I was devastated,” he told Courier Sport.
“It’s the only time I’ve cried in my adult life so it shows you how much it meant to me. The Paralympic trials in London and Sheffield were just incredible, especially London.
“Swimming in front of 5,000 people, it was electric. But Glasgow trials will be better! My only target just now is to make it on to Team Scotland.
“I’m not thinking about what I can achieve there until I’m safely on the team and that entails me going under the qualification time for the 100m freestyle (two lengths of an Olympic sized pool) which is 60.89 seconds.”
Hoggan, who competes in the S9 category against other swimmers who either have severe weakness in one leg, a loss of one limb or slight coordination problems, has been very much one to watch in recent years, but coaches in Fife reckon 2014 could be the year where he fulfils his potential.
Throughout his career in disability swimming he has been successful as a junior and senior disability swimmer for Scottish Disability Sport and Scottish Swimming, setting many Scottish records along the way and attaining the No 1 ranking in Britain for 100m butterfly.
To say he is driven to prove any doubters wrong would be an understatement.
“I got into swimming when I was three years old when my mum and dad took me to Disability Sport Fife swimming lessons with Richard Brickley at the old Fife Institute in Glenrothes,” he said.
“When I was in primary school I got bullied for having half an arm but I never let it stop me doing anything.
“And as I got older it bothered me less and less and now I just laugh at people that say anything because I know they are in the wrong, not me. Swimming is a very expensive sport so I have to work and I do struggle a wee bit with balancing it all.
“I work 30 hours a week for Enable Mobility Shop in Kinross, part of the Rowland’s Pharmacy Chain, and I can get very tired at times but I could not afford to swim if I didn’t work so it has to be done.
“But Enable are very supportive of me and I thank my colleagues very much for their support.
“And if it wasn’t for John Szaranek and Carnegie Swimming Club I would definitely not be where I am today in regards to my success in the pool and my Commonwealth hopes.”
All roads for Hoggan therefore lead to Glasgow, and he hopes to do enough in April’s trials to make it there and take his place alongside the best in the business at the Tollcross Aquatic Centre later this year.
If he achieves that aim, Hoggan knows full well the calibre of the competitors he will come up against notably world and Paralympic champion Matthew Cowdrey.
However Hoggan, thanks in part to the support of sponsors Quaker Oats and Specsavers of Glenrothes, is more than up for the challenge ahead and has been inspired by Paralympic champions from the past and present as he seeks to achieve his goals.