The 16-year-old water polo ace was named youth sport achiever of the year after becoming one of the top 21 players in the country.

Scott's sister Kim picked up the coveted trophy on his behalf – and he did have a pretty good excuse for being absent.

"I was on my way back from France where the GB team had been having a training camp with the French," said the Bourne Community College student, who lives in Chichester.

"I was sorry not to be there, though. I had no idea I was going to win and couldn't believe it when my sister phoned me to tell me."

Scott took up the sport aged ten when he asked his mum to find him an alternative to swimming, which he was getting bored with.

"I loved it from the start and was quite good at it. We lived in France then but when we came back to England, I started playing for Worthing.

"That led to me going to the regional training camp at Croydon and then going off training with the GB team. Gradually numbers were whittled down and I'm now in the 21 players selected."

Scott has now flown off to Bulgaria with GB for qualifying for the European games, which take place in Belgrade in July.

For a full rundown of everyone who was nominated in the awards scheme, see this week's Observer