Ching Hwee Gan Breaks Own 400 Free National Record With 4:09.34 At Commonwealth Games

2026 Commonwealth Games

In the first finals event of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, Singapore’s Ching Hwee Gan broke her own national record, swimming 4:09.34 in the women’s 400 freestyle final.

WOMEN’S 400 FREESTYLE – FINAL

  • World Record – 3:54.18, Summer McIntosh (CAN), 2025
  • Commonwealth Record – 3:54.18, Summer McIntosh (CAN), 2025
  • Commonwealth Games Record – 3:58.06, Ariarne Titmus (AUS), 2022
  • 2022 Champion – Ariarne Titmus (AUS), 3:58.06

GOLD – Lani Pallister (AUS), 3:59.56
SILVER – Erika Fairweather (NZL), 4:02.65
BRONZE – Jenna Forrester (AUS), 4:05.25
4th — Amelia Weber (AUS), 4:08.70
5th — Ching Hwee Gan (SGP), 4:09.34

Gan finished 5th in the event, stopping the clock in 4:09.34, taking half a second off her 2025 record of 4:09.82, which she swam at the World Championships in Singapore last summer.

Gan started the race in 7th at the 50-meter mark before moving up to 6th at the 100 mark, turning in 1:00.06. She stayed in 6th through the 350-meter mark before splitting 31.05 on the final 50 to pass Canada’s Ella Jansen, who split 31.93 to fall back to 7th.

Split Comparison

Old Record — 4:09.82, 2025 World Championships
New Record — 4:09.34, 2026 Commonwealth Games
50 29.17 29.06
100 31.10 31.00
150 31.49 31.37
200 31.51 31.67
250 31.42 31.71
300 31.70 31.67
350 31.79 31.81
400 31.63 31.05

The biggest difference in splits came in the first part of the race, where she was faster on the first three 50s than she was in Singapore last August.

When she first broke the record, she became the first Singaporean woman in history under 4:10 in the event, breaking Lynette Lim’s 2009 record of 4:11.24.

Gan still has the 800 and 1500 freestyle remaining this week.

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About Madeline Folsom

Madeline Folsom

Madeline grew up in Spring, Texas, where she started swimming summer league at age three. She swam three years in college, specializing in the distance freestyle events with occasional focus on backstroke races. She spent two years at Grand Canyon University (2020-2022) before transferring to California State University - Bakersfield …

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