The cream of Scotland's young sporting talent will be among 61 British athletes heading out to the European Youth Olympic Festival in Finland next week.

Rutherglen swimmer Alasdair Stirling, Paisley runner Callum Hawkins and St Andrews tennis ace Morven McCulloch will join nearly 2,500 athletes aged between 13 and 16 from 49 European countries competing in nine sports.

It's the tenth time the games have been contested and Stirling and McCulloch will be hoping they can help improve on Team GB's Belgrade 2007 medal haul of nine gold, seven silver and seven bronze medals.

But Stirling, who swims for East Kilbride under coach Andy Figgins, already has his sights set on even bigger things.

He said: "This will be my first GB cap and the biggest event I've ever been to.

"Long term I'd like to make the Olympics so this will be a great experience. This is very important to me and I want to do as well as I can."