2026 Commonwealth Games
- July 24 – 29, 2026 (pool swimming)
- Glasgow, Scotland
- Tollcross International Swimming Centre
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We have a whopping 12 events on the schedule tonight, two more than yesterday, and eight sets of medals to give out. Several world record holders are in action with Adam Ramsay-Peaty, Cam McEvoy, and Will Ellard on the startlists, and five of the eight medal events will have a new winner this year with the current champion not in the field.
Sam Short kicks off the session in the 400 free, looking like the red-hot favorite after his 3:40.67 at Australian Trials last month. He will be in lane 4 after clocking a 3:46.23 this morning, and will have Dan Wiffen on his left after the Irishman qualified 3rd in 3:47.01, his fastest swim for over a year.
Defending champion Elijah Winnington is in lane 6 after finishing 4th this morning in 3:47.84. The outer four lanes are all British, with James Guy in lane 2 one to keep an eye on after he blasted a 3:44.04 at the Aquatics GB Championships in April, his fastest swim since 2016.
We then move onto the women’s 100 back semi-finals. Iona Anderson (59.86) and Kylie Masse (59.90) were the only swimmers under 1:00 this morning, and with no Kaylee McKeown the event is open for one of them to take control. Masse won the event in 2018, but Anderson has the edge this season 58.60 to 58.87.
The silver and bronze medalists from the 200 back, Scotland’s Katie Shanahan and Australia’s Hannah Fredericks, are the #4 and #5 seeds. England’s Lauren Cox, who had an entry time of 59.59, was just 1:01.12 this morning and could blast out in lane 3 in the first semi-final.
The first of tonight’s world record holders is then in action, as Cam McEvoy will swim his 50 free semi-final – however it will be the first, not the second. Josh Liendo took top spot this morning in 21.80, with McEvoy taking three breaths in his swim as he clocked 21.87.
Jamie Jack was the other man under 22 seconds with a 21.95, and South Africa’s Calvyn Justus posted his second-fastest swim ever with a 22.00. Flynn Southam, who had a huge swim on the 4×100 free relay last night, will be one to watch in the second semi after he swam 22.03 this morning.
There are several national records which could go down tonight. Uganda’s Tendo Kaumi, Fiji’s David Tolu Young, The Bahamas’ Lamar Taylor, and Mauritania’s Bradley Vincent will be ones to keep an eye on.
Lani Pallister could become the first swimmer to win two titles this week, as she is the top seed in the 200 free. She won the 400 free last night in 3:59.56, and posted a time of 1:57.02 in the 200 free this morning.
Her teammate Inez Miller will be next to her, with Mollie O’Callaghan swimming out of lane 6 after qualifying fourth in 1:58.22. The back injury she announced recently does look to be hampering her more here than it was at Australian Trials, so this race could be all to play for.
Freya Colbert has stated that her aim is the 1:53s, and she could challenge Pallister in the middle of the pool after cruising through the heats this morning in 1:58.18. Her English teammates Freya Anderson and Leah Schlosshan join her in the final, as does New Zealand’s 400 free silver medalist Erika Fairweather.
PIeter Coetze has set a Commonwealth Games record in both of his 50 back swims so far and currently sits just 0.12 seconds off his own African record. He won silver at the last edition in 24.77, but figures to be much faster and potentially one step higher on the podium tonight.
His teammate Ruard van Renen has already set two new lifetime bests in the event this week, dropping a total of 0.36 seconds to rank second in 24.56, and scratched the 100 fly semi-finals tonight to focus on this final. He will be up against England’s Ollie Morgan (24.65) and Australia’s Isaac Cooper (24.85) in the battle for the medals, but there could be some outside smoke as well with only a tenth of a second separating 4th through 8th.
Alex Perkins has looked magnificent through the first two rounds of the women’s 50 fly, clocking 25.50 and 25.48 to progress as the top seed twice in a row. She will have her Oceanian record of 25.31 from last summer in her sights, and if she can tidy up the finish from her semi-finals swim that is certainly beatable.
Erin Gallagher looks like the only women to challenge her, swimming 25.70 in the heats and 25.69 in the semi-finals. Her lifetime best of 25.39 is just 0.08 behind Perkins’ best. Hazel Ouwehand and Jessica Thompson are separated by just 0.01 seconds behind Gallagher, and the bronze medalist looks likely to be one of that pair.
Matt Temple is the top seed in the men’s 100 fly after posting a time of 51.30 in the heats, but Ed Mildred (51.62) and Josh Liendo (51.69) also looked good this morning. Chad le Clos, who won his 19th Commonwealth medal last night in the men’s 4×100 free relay, is the #7 seed in 52.53.
Bethany Firth is the defending champion and world record holder in the women’s S14 200 free, and was the only woman under 2:10 this morning. Will Ellard has set the world record in the men’s event in both of the last two summers, and was a whisker away earlier this month with a 1:51.10 at Dutch Nationals. He clocked a Games record of 1:53.52 this morning.
Angharad Evans will be hoping for a similar reception from the home crowd to the one she received this morning, and looks by far the class of the field in the women’s 100 breast. She is the top seed after touching in 1:06.34 in the heats, and has a season best time of 1:04.96, which stands as the British record.
Aimee Canny will be in lane 4 in the other semi-final, having eschewed the 200 free in which she is the African record holder to swim this event instead. She clocked 1:06.68, seven tenths off her lifetime best of 1:05.97 from June this year. Sienna Toohey, Ella Ramsay, Kaylene Corbett, and Sophie Angus will also hope to progress to tomorrow’s final.
The final individual event is a big one and, thanks to Michael Houlie, could be the most interesting of the night. Adam Peaty has led the field in both prelims and semi-finals, but Houlie has blasted out to a rapid opening 50 in both rounds.
He clocked 26.56 at the halfway point in the heats, then 26.38 in the semi-finals for a new African record. If he does something similar tonight, it may force others in the field to react.
Peaty was 59.19 in the semi-finals last night, just ahead of Sam Williamson‘s 59.27. Filip Nowacki (59.52) and Olvier Dawson (59.87) were also under 1:00. Peaty will be hoping to reclaim his title, having finished 4th in 2022 behind James Wilby, Zac Stubblety-Cook, and Williamson.
The final event will be the mixed 4×100 free relay, in which Australia are the hot favorites after winning the men’s and women’s 4×100 free relays last night. England were second this morning in 3:26.56, but the decision of Canada and South Africa not to swim the heats has opened up the third spot on the podium. Wales, Scotland, and New Zealand will be eyeing up a chance at a relay medal.
