What made Erraid a world-beater? Talent or dedication?

What makes a world beater? Innate talent? Opportunity? Training? Dedicated parents?

Erraid Davies has the lot. And an innocent smile that lit up Scotland’s Commonwealth Games last night like a lantern. Did you see her awestruck joy on the podium last night as she collected her bronze medal?

If you haven’t, you must. Because it is the kind of thing that will send parents to their nearest pool to book their kids into last-minute summer holiday swimming lessons.

Her mum and dad, David and Joyce, knew their little girl had a special talent in the pool when she first swam an uninterrupted mile. She was six.

And since then she’s been a kind of human fish, training twice daily in Shetlands tiny 16m pool, before yesterday delivering at age 13 Scotland‘s youngest ever Commonwealth Games medal. As Scotland’s youngest-ever Commonwealth Games competitor. And Erraid’s success has been driven entirely by her.

Was it David and Joyce who would be habitually dragging their youngest daughter to the pool for an extra session, I asked them?

No, quite the opposite, they explained. More often than not it was Erraid waiting patiently for them.

She was introduced to swimming as a toddler to help improve her mobility – she was born with limited movement in one of her hips. Aged four, she could barely walk. She’ll be 15 when the Rio Olympic Games come round. And given last night’s performance, she has every chance of being there.

Follow @nzerem_c4 on Twitter