The 20-year-old, who learnt his trade at Vale of Leven Swimming Pool, won gold in record time in the Glasgow 2014 200m breaststroke final before taking bronze in the 100m.

On Friday he received thanks, praise, chants and cheers from thousands of fans who lined the streets of Glasgow in recognistion of Scotland’s top athletes.

The Games have transformed the life of Murdoch after he defeated home favourite Michael Jamieson to become one of the top names at the Games.

His quite exceptional talent coupled with his humble attitude won the hearts and minds of supporters across the country and reflecting on the Games.

He said: “The support has been overwhelming and I just want to thank everybody that has been there because the crowd have supported me so much along the way. My story has travelled so far around Scotland and I just want to thank people for that.

“There is no way I could have expected this — before the Games I felt I had a good swim at the Scottish Nationals in the 200m and I thought if I paced it slightly differently then I could be able to swim it a lot faster but in the honest truth I didn’t know how much faster but at the end of the day it was quite considerable.

“I don’t forget my roots, I know exactly where I’m from — I’m a Vale boy and it is great to be here representing the people from back home.” Ross is set to return to the pool this week at the European Championships in Berlin.