SwimSwam Pulse: 55.9% Think Short Wins Most Individual Golds Among Men At Commonwealth Games

SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side.

Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers which male swimmer will walk away with the most individual titles at the Commonwealth Games:

Question: Which man will win the most individual gold medals at the Commonwealth Games?

RESULTS

• Sam Short – 55.9%
• Josh Liendo – 22.8%
• Pieter Coetze – 12.2%
• Duncan Scott – 7.1%
• Lewis Clareburt – 4.1%
• Other – 4.1%

After a dominant performance at last month’s Australian Trials, Sam Short has established himself as the favorite to walk away with the most hardware among male swimmers at next week’s Commonwealth Games.

In our most recent poll, we asked SwimSwam readers which man will win the most individual gold medals at the Games, and Short was the clear-cut top pick with 55.9% of votes.

The 22-year-old is the defending champion in the men’s 1500 free, while he won silver four years ago in the 400 free.

This time around, he’s the undisputed favorite to win both races, and with the 800 free added to the schedule this year, he’ll be hard to deny three individual gold medals.

His biggest challenger was expected to be Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen, the reigning Olympic champion in the 800 free, but he hasn’t been anywhere near top form this season.

Short ranks #1 in the world this season in the 400 free (3:40.67) and 800 free (7:36.73), while he sits 4th in the 1500 free (14:39.67).

His closest challengers on paper this season will be England’s James Guy (3:44.04) and Aussie teammate Elijah Winnington (3:44.17) in the 400, and in the 800 and 1500, he’s got a massive gap over countrymen Ben Goedemans (7:47.62) and Matthew Galea (14:50.22).

Short also won the 200 free at the Australian Trials in a time of 1:45.16, and he certainly has a shot to win that at the Commonwealth Games as well. However, that will be a barn-burner of a race that could be won by any number of men, with the stacked field including Wales’ Matt Richards (1:44.77), England’s Guy (1:45.38) and Scotland’s Duncan Scott (1:45.44), along with Aussie teammates Kai Taylor (1:45.30) and Edward Sommerville (1:45.34).

Ranking #2 in the poll was Canadian Josh Liendo, who will be a contender for up to four individual gold medals as well.

Liendo has to be regarded as the frontrunner in the 100 fly as the defending champion and Olympic silver medalist, and he’ll have a legitimate shot at the title in the 50 fly and maybe even the 100 free as well, with Kyle Chalmers being another gold medal hopeful in both. Liendo’s tallest order will be the 50 free, where world record holder Cameron McEvoy towers over the field.

South African Pieter Coetze is favored by many to sweep the backstroke events after winning a medal in all three distances at the 2025 World Championships, but he only received 12.2% of votes compared to Liendo’s 22.8%.

England’s Oliver Morgan will pose a challenge to Coetze in the 50 and 100-meter events, as he’s currently nearly two-tenths faster than him this season in the 50 back (24.36 to 24.54) and is just one one-hundredth shy in the 100 back (52.40 to 52.41).

Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks: Which female swimmer will walk away with the most individual titles at the Commonwealth Games?

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ABOUT A3 PERFORMANCE

The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner.