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Kate and Gerry McCann are going through a fresh bout of distress as police in Portugal try to discover out what happened to their missing out on child Madeleine.

The current development in their 18-year search is a brand-new dig for evidence on land near Praia Da Luz, where she went missing.

But while the McCanns' heartache and yearning is the public image Britain is used to, there is a personal side to the couple - as happy moms and dads of Maddie's 2 younger brother or sisters.

Today MailOnline can expose details of the successful young man Maddie's younger brother has ended up being. Sean McCann is now an elite swimmer training like an Olympic professional athlete.

Meanwhile, officers in Portugal have actually been seen clearing plants around abandoned structures, wearing protective gear such as tough hats and face masks, and a digger was used to move debris.

The location where they are working is an area of fields and scrubland in between a primary roadway and the sea, with a few buildings including a vineyard.

Back in Britain, Maddie's brother Sean, seen below posing happily in his royal blue Scottish Swimming t-shirt, is being tipped to contend at the 2028 video games in Los Angeles for Team GB.

The 20-year-old was snapped with a gold medal around his neck after contending in an open water swimming celebration in the Mediterranean.

Sean McCann, 20, won a gold medal after contending in an open water swimming celebration

Madeleine McCann disappeared on May 3, 2007, while on holiday with her parents and siblings

Gerry and Kate McCann with Amelie and Sean in their home in Praia da Luz in 2007

Fresh authorities searches are under way near the area where Madeleine McCann was last seen near Praia da Luz, Portugal

Firefighters and search groups inspect a well at a derelict and deserted residential or commercial property to the west of Praia De Luz, Portugal, where searches are being performed by officers investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann

He and his twin sister Amelie were just 2 years of ages when Maddie disappeared from their vacation apartment in the Portuguese resort on May 3, 2007.

Sean and Amelie have actually matured being called 'Maddie's younger brother or sisters', as she continues to be a regular in the news to this day.

The more youthful brother or sisters were photographed routinely as young kids as the story went worldwide.

Former Portuguese investigator states new search for Madeleine McCann is 'over the top'

Their parents later on did their best to keep them out of the spotlight, although Kate as soon as stated openly how as a baby Sean had actually brandished a toy sword and stated he was going to get the 'bad man' who had nabbed his sister away.

In 2023 Amelie, then 18, publicly joined her parents for the very first time in years for an informal prayer gathering on the 16th anniversary of Maddie's disappearance at the family home town of Rothley, Leicestershire.

And Sean, who is studying chemical engineering at university, has been swimming competitively for nearly 10 years.

He revealed in 2023 he had actually been getting up at 4am to swim before school because the age of 11, and going to the gym 3 times a week.

The student has actually set his sights on representing Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow next year and contending in Los Angeles in 2028.

Sean was pictured grinning on a beach last May after winning gold in the males's 1,500 m race without a wetsuit at the very best Fest Open Water Festival in Colonia Sant Jordi, Mallorca.

Sean has actually set his sights on representing Team GB at the Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028

In the same festival, he scooped up bronze in the guys's 5,000 m swim with a wetsuit while contending as part of Scottish Swimming's Open Water Development Squad.

A report of the event said he had actually become part of the leading pack and broke from the remainder of the field to finish in 1:00.53 - nearly two minutes ahead of 4th place.

Sean was likewise part of Team Scotland at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago in 2023 where he participated in the 400m and 1,500 m freestyle finals.

Madeleine McCann's household discover joy after heartbreak: Sean McCann is tipped to swim for Team GB

And he represented Great Britain in the 10km race of the European Junior Open Water Swimming Championships in Corfu in 2023 when he came 20th.

Sean, who signed up with Scottish Swimming's national squad due to his dad's Scottish roots, spoke of his training regime after being awarded a ₤ 400 Inspire Award grant by a charity set up in memory of Joe Humphries, 14, from Rothley who passed away unexpectedly while running in 2012.

The Joe Humphries Memorial Trust intends to promote research into and awareness of Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome, which caused the death of the child, referred to as 'fit, healthy, vibrant and fun liking' by his family.
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Sean wrote on the charity's website: 'I began competitive sport when I was 8, signing up with Charnwood triathlon club. It was here that I found my enthusiasm for swimming and I joined Loughborough Town swimming club to increase the number of swim sessions I did per week.

'At the age of ten I was picked to swim at City of Leicester (Leicestershire's performance swimming club), and I have actually given that gone on to win numerous county titles along with ending up being regional and national champ in my age group.

Maddie McCann's sibling Amelie (right) lit a candle light in her memory as she joined her moms and dads and well-wishers on the poignant 16th anniversary of the toddler's disappearance in 2023

'In order to have attained this, I have actually had to stay exceptionally committed, getting up at 4am several early mornings each week to train since the age of 11.

'I am presently studying chemical engineering, and train nine times a week in the pool, as well as three health club sessions, totalling over 20 hours of training (per) week. I am aiming to complete at the 2026 Commonwealth Games and also the 2028 Olympics in LA.

'The Inspire awards will assist me to fund travel and lodging for the Scottish National Swimming Championships in Edinburgh, where I will acquire important racing experience prior to the Olympic swimming trials in April 2024.'

Meanwhile, Sean's sister Amelie has actually been explained as popular and outgoing along with athletic - she is understood to have actually contended in cross country and triathlon events at school.

When not at university, Sean and Amelie still deal with heart professional Gerry, 56, and former GP Kate, 57, who works with dementia patients, in the same ₤ 800,000 redbrick removed home on a cul-de-sac in Rothley they have actually remained in since 2007.

The UK's best-known missing out on individual case is as soon as again back in the spotlight after it emerged today that authorities in Portugal are to carry out fresh searches.

They are browsing the land near the previous home of Christian Brueckner, a convicted sex offender who is the prime suspect in Maddie's disappearance.

The most recent police activity in the case involving their missing sibling follows a tip-off from German police about Brueckner, presently in prison for the 2005 rape of an American pensioner in Portugal

He was working as a waiter in Praia da Luz at the time of her disappearance and was formally declared a suspect by Portuguese police in 2022.

Kate and Gerry McCann with their daughter Amelie (bottom right) during a prayer service in 2023

The following year, a former buddy declared he had all however admitted to the abduction, by stating: 'She didn't yell', throughout a conversation about the case at a music festival in 2008.

German private investigators later on searched the Arade tank in the Algarve, 31 miles from the holiday resort, for evidence linked to Maddie - however to no get. Pictures of Brueckner positioning naked beside the very same reservoir were discovered on his hard drive.

Brueckner continues to deny any participation and has actually never been charged. Indeed, in 2015 he was acquitted on unassociated rape and sexual assault charges.

He is because of be from prison in September - unless there is an appeal or additional proof emerges connecting him to Maddie's case.

The McCanns have actually made no comment on the latest revelations.

But disgraced former Portuguese authorities chief Goncalo Amaral branded the new searches over the leading and wheeled out an ill theory about her disappearance.

The ex-detective, who was taken legal action against over a 2008 book about the 18-year-old mystery in which he incorrectly blamed the missing child's parents, also accused his own previous police force of 'connivance' with 'substandard' German cops.

Amaral, shaken off the Madeleine examination in 2008 after openly criticising British cops involved in the case, exposed his theory to Portuguese daily Correio da Manha.

He declared of the fresh searches that are occurring: 'This much wasn't needed. An airplane with geo-radar would have sufficed and minimized the search area.'

Maddie disappeared aged three while on a family vacation in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007

Amaral added: 'The Germans must have had absolutely nothing to do with the examination. This was a British authorities technique with assistance from the Portuguese police.'

It comes as a McCann household source told the Mail they were rather 'in the dark' because it is 'an ongoing examination' and they have no direct contact with German or Portuguese authorities.

'We don't understand what proof police have,' the source said.

'If it is him, and there's no direct and definitive evidence, he might never state a word. He's not saying a word now. It might be, sadly, that we never know what occurred to Madeleine. But we intend to learn. We keep hoping after all these years.'

The Metropolitan Police's examination into Maddie's disappearance, called Operation Grange, has actually gotten ₤ 13. 2million in Home Office grants, consisting of ₤ 108,000 this year.

With no arrests or official charges in 18 years, some have actually questioned the viability of the fund.

Kate and Gerry have also faced upsetting individual attacks, a lot of openly in 2007 when it was exposed they had utilized donations from the Find Madeleine interest pay their ₤ 2,000-a-month mortgage. Both had taken overdue leave from work to join the look for their daughter.

Kate and Gerry McCann stop to speak to journalism after a church service in Praia da Luz

This year they have actually dealt with yet more distress as two females were accused of sending them letters and text, making call and showing up uninvited at their home.

One, Polish-born Julia Wandel, 23, made headings in 2023 after declaring to be Maddie.

A DNA test showed she was not, but Wandel continued to speak up on social networks, and it is alleged she travelled to the UK in May in 2015 to attend Maddie's yearly memorial service.

The second, Karen Spragg, 60, from Cardiff, faces one charge of stalking including major alarm or distress in between May 3, 2024, and 21 February this year. Both pleaded not guilty at Leicester Crown Court last month and are because of go on trial in October.

They are likewise declared to have stalked Amelie and Sean who have, until recent years, remained entirely out of the spotlight at their moms and dads' behest.
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'They have actually always remained in Madeleine's shadow, and just been the McCann twins,' a family good friend informed the Mail. 'Today they are young grownups, they are carving out their own lives.'

In March, Gerry won a prominent award, amounting to ₤ 80,000, to money his ongoing research into heart problem. Colleagues praised his 'life-altering work'.