2026 Commonwealth Games Previews: Australian Dominance Continues In Women’s Sprint Free

2026 Commonwealth Games

• July 24 – 29, 2026 (pool swimming)
• Glasgow, Scotland
• Tollcross International Swimming Centre
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Preview Index

The Australian women have established themselves as the premier sprint freestyle nation throughout the 2000s, and though they’ve been a force at the Olympics and World Championships for the past 20-plus years, their record at the Commonwealth Games is even more striking.

Over the last six Commonwealth Games, dating back to 2002, the Aussie women have won gold in 13 of the 18 sprint freestyle events, factoring in the 50, 100 and 200. That includes a sweep in 2010, with Yolane Kukla, Alicia Coutts and Kylie Palmer, and at the last edition in 2022 with Emma McKeon, Mollie O’Callaghan and Ariarne Titmus.

And although both McKeon and Titmus have retired and won’t be defending their titles in Glasgow, Australia should continue to dominate.

By The Numbers – Women’s 50 Freestyle

• World Record: 23.55, Gretchen Walsh (USA) – 2026
• Commonwealth Record: 23.78, Cate Campbell (AUS) – 2018
• Commonwealth Games Record: 23.78, Cate Campbell (AUS) – 2018
• 2022 Commonwealth Champion: Emma McKeon (AUS), 23.99
• Returning Medalists: Meg Harris (silver), Shayna Jack (bronze)

A lot has happened in the women’s 50 freestyle since Meg Harris won the world title last summer. The world record has changed hands twice, with Americans Gretchen Walsh (23.55) and Kate Douglass (23.59) now ranking 1-2 all-time, and longtime record holder Sarah Sjostrom has also been under 24 seconds this year (23.86) coming back from giving birth in 2025.

If this was a World Championship-level field, Harris would be a long shot to come out on top, but among Commonwealth countries, she remains the clear favorite.

The 24-year-old won the Aussie Trials title last month in a time of 24.08, just over a tenth shy of her lifetime best set at the Paris Olympics (23.97). She’s consistently going between 23.9 and 24.0, which is a level no one else in the field has reached. As the reigning silver medalist, Harris is poised to take the next step on the podium and win her first individual Commonwealth title.

Her biggest challenger on paper will be Shayna Jack, who won bronze behind Harris four years ago and recently announced she’ll retire after the competition.

Jack rebounded from missing the World Championship team last summer by clocking 24.54 at the Queensland Championships this past December and then getting down to 24.37 at the Aussie Trials in June.

The women’s 50 free final will be on the last night of swimming in Glasgow, so it will surely be an emotional one for Jack, and that coupled with her recent form should be enough to land her on the podium.

Jack isn’t a lock for silver, however, as England’s Eva Okaro poses a legitimate threat, having now been 24.4 in back-to-back years.

The 19-year-old went 24.48 in April 2025 and then followed up by resetting her best time down to 24.42 at the British Championships in April 2026. Her fastest swim at an international meet thus far sits at 24.55, set at the 2025 World Championships where she placed 11th in the semis.

Okaro is coming off a successful freshman year at the University of Texas, earning runner-up finishes at the SEC Championships in the 50 and 100 free and then placing 4th in the 50 at NCAAs, and is riding a lot of momentum entering her debut Commonwealth Games.

Those three are the podium favorites, but there’s plenty of challengers behind them who are capable of moving up.

Wales’ Theodora Taylor is coming off winning the European Junior title in 24.82 and set a best time of 24.59 earlier in the year, while a third Aussie, Alexandria Perkins, set a best time of 24.61 at the Australian Open and then came back with a 24.63 showing at their Trials meet last month.

South African Caitlin De Lange and England’s Darcy Revitt have also been under 24.8 in 2026, giving them an outside shot at the podium. Revitt also set a personal best time of 24.70 in December.

SwimSwam’s Picks

By The Numbers – Women’s 100 Freestyle

• World Record: 51.68, Marrit Steenbergen (NED) – 2026
• Commonwealth Record: 51.96, Emma McKeon (AUS) – 2021
• Commonwealth Games Record: 52.27, Bronte Campbell (AUS) – 2018
• 2022 Commonwealth Champion: Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS), 52.63
• Returning Medalists: Mollie O’Callaghan (gold), Shayna Jack (silver)

Australia has won the women’s 100 free at six straight Commonwealth Games, and it’s more likely that they sweep the podium for the second straight year than it is that the gold medal streak ends.

Mollie O’Callaghan is the defending champion and has consistently been one of the best in the world in the event in the four years since. She won back-to-back world titles in 2022 and 2023, had a near podium miss in 4th at the Paris Olympics (by .01) and then earned silver at the 2025 World Championships.

O’Callaghan recently disclosed that she’s dealing with a stress fracture and bone oedema in her lumbar spine, but will still compete in Glasgow and at the Pan Pacs in August. What that means for her form remains to be seen. However, she said the diagnosis came prior to the Aussie Trials, where she topped the field in a time of 52.33. The consistency she’s shown in churning out 52-low-to-mid swims in the 100 free makes her hard to deny for a repeat victory.

Trailing O’Callaghan at the Trials were Meg Harris (52.63) and Shayna Jack (52.96), and they’re the only three women in the field who have been under 53 seconds this year.

Harris has been slightly faster this season, having clocked 52.56 at the Queensland Championships in December, which is just shy of her PB from 2024 (52.52).

Jack’s best time stands at 52.28, set in 2023, but her 52.96 showing at Trials was her first sub-53 since the Paris Olympics.

Beyond the three Aussies, the final will likely be made up of a lot of Brits.

English natives Eva Okaro (53.75), Freya Colbert (54.02), Freya Anderson (54.05) and Leah Schlosshan (54.33) were close at the British Championships and are all members of England’s Commonwealth roster. Only three of them can race the event, so Schlosshan will be the odd one out, unless Colbert drops the event.

Also in the British Championship final were Scotland’s Evelyn Davis (53.99) and Wales’ Theodora Taylor (54.20), and every swimmer mentioned set a new best time outside of Anderson, who went 53.31 back in 2019. Davis’ swim notably marked her first best time in the event in five years.

Taylor is one to watch as, despite not racing the 100 free individually at the recent European Junior Championships, she produce a pair of sub-54 relay splits, including a 53.42 that helped propel the British girls’ to victory in the 4×100 free relay.

SwimSwam’s Picks

By The Numbers – Women’s 200 Freestyle

• World Record: 1:52.23, Ariarne Titmus (AUS) – 2024
• Commonwealth Record: 1:52.23, Ariarne Titmus (AUS) – 2024
• Commonwealth Games Record: 1:53.89, Ariarne Titmus (AUS) – 2022
• 2022 Commonwealth Champion: Ariarne Titmus (AUS), 1:53.89
• Returning Medalists: Mollie O’Callaghan (silver)

Mollie O’Callaghan‘s resume is impressive in the 100 free, but it’s even better in the 200.

The former world record holder and second-fastest performer ever, O’Callaghan is the reigning Olympic and world champion in the event, and will be seeking her first Commonwealth title in the 200 free after finishing a close 2nd to Ariarne Titmus four years ago.

O’Callaghan’s front-half speed helped earn her the victory over Lani Pallister in the Australian Trials final, putting up a time of 1:52.86 for the fourth-fastest swim of all-time.

The only thing that would steer us away from picking O’Callaghan for gold would be the injury, but after her swim at Trials, when it seems the issue had already popped up, there’s no denying her.

Pallister has been on fire this year and reached a new level in the 200 free at last month’s Trials, lowering her best time by over a second in 1:53.65 to move into a tie for fifth all-time.

The 24-year-old will have a busy program in Glasgow, but this race comes early in the schedule (Day 2, after the 400 free on Day 1) and she should be firing on all cylinders.

Unlike the 50 and 100 free, an Aussie sweep of the podium looks unlikely with England’s Freya Colbert and New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather being the two others in the field sub-1:56 this year.

Colbert set a new British Record of 1:54.34 in April, while Fairweather reset her Kiwi Record for the first time in three years in May (1:55.06).

Colbert is coming off a 4th-place finish at the 2025 World Championships, where she clocked a then-best time and British Record of 1:55.06 in the final, and she’s since reset the national record twice, going 1:54.98 in March and then 1:54.34 in April.

That consistency gives her a leg up on Fairweather coming in, though it will be interesting to see how the 400 goes the day prior and if that gives either one of them any momentum or confidence over the other.

The rest of the field should have a good battle jockeying for position in the final.

Australia’s Inez Miller set a best time at Trials in 1:56.41, while Aimee Canny set a new South African Record of 1:56.59 at the Indianapolis Pro Swim—both swims coming last month.

Then there’s the British Championships from April, where Colbert was followed by English teammates Freya Anderson (1:57.00) and Leah Schlosshan (1:57.49), while Wales’ Theodora Taylor set a best time of 1:58.31 before lowering it by two one-hundredths at Euro Juniors earlier this month.

There’s a lack of Canadian content in the 50 and 100 free previews due to them only sending six swimmers per gender, but Ella Jansen should factor into the 200 free after placing 11th at the World Championships last summer.

Jansen has now been between 1:57.33 and 1:57.89 six times in the 200 free, all within the last year. Most recently, she went 1:57.58 at the Canadian Trials. Will 1:57-mid be enough to make the final? It could be close, depending on how dialed in the field is in the morning.

SwimSwam’s Picks

See all our Commonwealth picks with the SwimSwam Preview Index here.