2026 Commonwealth Games: Day 2 Finals Live Recap

2026 COMMONWEALTH GAMES

• July 24th – July 29th 2026 (pool swimming)
• Tollcross International Swimming Centre, Glasgow, Scotland
• LCM (50m)
• All the Links
• SwimSwam’s Official Preview Index
• Entries
• Prelims Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2
• Finals Recaps: Day 1
• Live Results

We have a packed agenda ready to unfold tonight on day two of the 2026 Commonwealth Games, with Australia entering the evening atop the overall swimming medal table, followed by Scotland and South Africa.

The Aussies have multiple chances for additional golds, with World Championships multi-medalists Sam Short sitting as the top seed in the men’s 400m free and teammate and last night’s 400m free champion Lani Pallister heading up the women’s 200m free. Although suffering from a back injury, Olympic champion Mollie O’Callaghan is also an extremely viable hardware candidate in the 2free.

Although just semi-finals, the men’s 50m freestyle will see World Record holder Cameron McEvoy continue jockeying for position against the likes of teammates Jamie Jack and Flynn Southam, along with Canada’s Josh Liendo.

We’ll see if world champion Pieter Coetze can break the Commonwealth Games Record for a third time as he hopes to achieve gold in the men’s 50m back, while World Record holder Adam Ramsay-Peaty will try to upgrade his 4th place position in the men’s 100m breaststroke final from four years ago.

Add in the women’s 100m breaststroke semi-finals, the men’s 100m fly semi-finals, the women’s 50m fly final and the mixed 4x100m free relay and tonight has the potential to continue the fireworks we witnessed on day one in Glasgow

MEN’S 400 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• World Record: 3:39.96 – Lukas Maertens (GER), 2025
• Commonwealth Record: 3:40.08 – Ian Thorpe (AUS), 2002
• Commonwealth Games Record: 3:40.08 – Ian Thorpe (AUS), 2002
• 2022 Champion – Elijah Winnington (AUS) – 3:43.06

GOLD – Sam Short (AUS), 3:41.25
SILVER – Elijah Winnington (AUS), 3:45.56
BRONZE – Benjamin Goedemans (AUS), 3:45.57

It was an Australian sweep of this men’s 400m freestyle event, with World Championships multi-medalist Sam Short leading the charge with an impressive outing of 3:41.25.

Short led the race after the opening 50m, splitting 1:48.73 as the only sub-1:50 performer of the field. 22-year-old Short’s outing tonight represents the 4th-best of his young career.

Top 5 Sam Short LCM 400 Freestyle Performances

1. 3:40.67, 2026
2. 3:40.68, 2023
3. 3:41.03, 2025
4. 3:41.25, 2026
5. 3:41.84, 2024

Short continued building his lead, with the minor medals flipping between Aussie teammates Elijah Winnington and Benjamin Goedemans along with British national record holder and multi-Olympic gold medalist James Guy.

When the dust settled, it was Winnington who came up with the silver in 3:45.56, off the 3:43.06 which garnered him the gold four years ago in Birmingham.

Goedemans rounded out the podium in 3:45.57, tying his best-ever swim from the 2025 Australian Trials, while Guy placed 4th in 3:46.70 and Ireland’s Olympic champion Daniel Wiffen found himself in 5th in 3:47.22, downgrading himself from the 4th-place finish he produced in Birmingham.

WOMEN’S 100 BACKSTROKE – SEMI-FINALS

• World Record: 57.13 – Regan Smith (USA), 2024
• Commonwealth Record: 57.16 – Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 2025
• Commonwealth Games Record: 58.60 – Kaylee McKeown (AUS), 2022
• 2022 Champion – Kaylee McKeown (AUS) – 58.60

Top 8:

1. Kylie Masse (CAN) – 59.71
2. Hannah Fredericks (AUS) – 1:00.10
3. Iona Anderson (AUS) – 1:00.11
4. Lauren Cox (ENG) – 1:00.39
5. Olivia Nel (RSA) – 1:00.48
6. Madison Kryger (CAN) – 1:00.51
7. Katie Shanahan (SCO) – 1:00.74
8. Lottie Cullen (NIR) – 1:00.82

It was a relatively lackluster set of semi-finals of the women’s 100m backstroke, where only one athlete cleared the 1:00 barrier to set herself up for potential success for tomorrow night’s final.

30-year-old Olympic veteran Kylie Masse punched a time of 59.71 to hold a comfortable lead over her competitors, with Australian Hannah Fredericks the next-closest racer at 1:00.10.

Fredericks’ teammate Iona Anderson clinched the 3rd seed in 1:00.11, while Lauren Cox of England lurks as the 4th seed in 1:00.48.

Fredericks already earned bronze last night in the 200m backstroke, while Scotland’s Katie Shanahan, now the 7th seed in this race, snagged the silver.

Masse was the silver medalist in this event four years ago, courtesy of the 58.73 she put up against winner Kaylee McKeown of Australia, who ripped a Games Record of 58.60.

With McKeown absent from this competition due to mono (‘glandular fever’), it appears this 1back is Masse’s race to lose.

MEN’S 50 FREESTYLE – SEMI-FINALS

• World Record: 20.88 – Cameron McEvoy (AUS), 2026
• Commonwealth Record: 20.88 – Cameron McEvoy (AUS), 2026
• Commonwealth Games Record: 21.30 – Ben Proud (ENG), 2018
• 2022 Champion – Ben Proud (ENG) – 21.36

Top 8:

1. Jamie Jack (AUS) – 21.55
2. Josh Liendo (CAN) – 21.61
3. Cameron McEvoy (AUS) – 21.64
4. Calvyn Justus (RSA) – 21.86 & Flynn Southam (AUS) – 21.86
5. –
6. David Young (FIJ) – 22.09
7. Jacob Mills (ENG) – 22.24
8. Mikkel Lee (SGP) – 22.25

This men’s 50m freestyle is like a game of chess, where no player wants to reveal his overall strategy too early.

Australia’s Jamie Jack, making his Australian Dolphins debut, ripped a time of 21.55 to lead the splash n’ dash field, producing the 3rd-best time of his young career.

The 23-year-old brother of Olympic medalist Shayna Jack‘s lifetime best remains at the 21.43 notched at the 2025 U.S. National Championships to rank as his nation’s 4th-fastest man in history.

Canadian Olympic silver medalist in the 100m fly, Josh Liendo, also put down a significant marker, reaping the 2nd seed position in 21.61, just .03 ahead of Australian World Record holder Cameron McEvoy, who delivered a solid 21.64.

We all know what McEvoy is capable of, owning a lifetime best and monster WR of 20.88 from the China Open earlier this year.

Veteran Calvyn Justus of South Africa is tied with last night’s men’s 4x100m freestyle relay hero for Australia Flynn Southam as the 4th seeds in 21.86 to finish off the short list of sub-22-second swimmers on the night.

For Justus, that represents the top time ever for him, overtaking the 21.97 he logged at the South African Championshps earlier this year. He now checks in as his nation’s 4th-best performer ever.

Of note, only Liendo has the chance as a repeat medalist from the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Ben Proud of England, the champion in 21.36, retired and joined the Enhanced Games, while teammate and silver medalist Lewis Burras (21.68) did not compete at this year’s qualifing meet, the Aquatics GB Championships.

WOMEN’S 200 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• 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 Champion – Ariarne Titmus (AUS) – 1:53.89

GOLD – Mollie O’Callaghan (AUS), 1:54.66
SILVER – Lani Pallister (AUS), 1:55.01
BRONZE – Erika Fairweather (NZL), 1:55.24

It was a 1-2 Australian finish in this women’s 200m freestyle, as Olympic champion Mollie O’Callaghan got it done for gold in 1:54.66, followed by teammate and women’s 400m free victor here, Lani Pallister, who touched in 1:55.01.

Last night’s 400m free silver medalist Erika Fairweather of New Zealand captured another medal, securing the bronze in 1:55.24. That fell paintstakingly shy of the 1:55.06 national record she put on the books in May of this year.

As for 22-year-old O’Callaghan, her performance tonight was especially impressive given the fact she is suffering from a back injury.

Her season-best is much quicker, residing at the world-leading 1:52.86 put up at last month’s Australian Trials.

Pallister, too, was quicker at that competition, throwing down a result of 1:53.65 to rank #2 in the world.

MEN’S 50 BACKSTROKE – FINAL

• World Record – 23.55, Kliment Kolesnikov (RUS), 2023
• Commonwealth Record – 24.04, Liam Tancock (GBR), 2009
• Commonwealth Games Record – 24.29, Pieter Coetze (RSA), 2026
• 2022 Champion – Andrew Jeffcoat (NZL), 24.65

GOLD – Pieter Coetze (RSA), 24.18 *Commonwealth Games Record*
SILVER – Ollie Morgan (ENG), 24.48
BRONZE – Ruard van Renen (RSA), 24.51

22-year-old Pieter Coetze of South Africa completed his dominance in this men’s 50m backstroke event, lowering the Commonwealth Games Record for a third time en route to gold.

Coetze ultimately stopped the clock at a head-turning result of 24.18 to grab the gold, falling only .01 shy of the national record of 24.17 he established at the 2025 World Championshps.

Coetze’s performance erased his own former Games Record of 24.29 logged last night during the semi-finals of this event.

Ollie Morgan of England earned the runner-up spot tonight in a time of 24.48, only .12 outside his lifetime best of 24.36 put up this past April to be positioned as the 2nd-best British swimmer in history.

Coetze’s South African teammate Ruard van Renen of the University of Georgia notched yet another personal best, with his time of 24.51 bagging the bronze and lowering his former PB of 24.56 from last night’s semi-finals.

WOMEN’S 50 BUTTERFLY – FINAL

• World Record – 24.43, Sarah Sjostrom (SWE), 2014
• Commonwealth Record – 25.20, Francesca Halsall (GBR), 2014
• Commonwealth Games Record – 25.20, Francesca Halsall (ENG), 2014
• 2022 Champion – Emma McKeon (AUS), 25.90

GOLD – 
SILVER – 
BRONZE – 

MEN’s 100 BUTTERFLY – SEMI-FINALS

• World Record: 49.45 – Caeleb Dressel (USA), 2021
• Commonwealth Record: 49.99 – Josh Liendo (CAN), 2024
• Commonwealth Games Record: 50.65 – Chad le Clos (RSA), 2018
• 2022 Champion – Josh Liendo (CAN) – 51.24

Top 8:

WOMEN’S S14 200 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• World Record: 2:02.09 – Bethany Firth (NIR), 2016
• Commonwealth Games Record – 2:07.02, Bethany Firth (NIR), 2022
• 2022 Champion – Bethany Firth (NIR), 2:07.02

GOLD – 
SILVER – 
BRONZE – 

MEN’s S14 200 FREESTYLE – FINAL

• World Record: 1:51.08 – Will Ellard (GBR), 2025
• Commonwealth Games Record – 1:54.97, Nicholas Bennett (CAN), 2022
• 2022 Champion – Nicholas Bennett (CAN), 1:54.97

GOLD – 
SILVER – 
BRONZE – 

WOMEN’S 100 BREASTSTROKE – SEMI-FINALS

• World Record: 1:04.13 – Lilly King (USA), 2017
• Commonwealth Record: 1:04.82 – Tatjana Smith (RSA), 2021
• Commonwealth Games Record: 1:05.09 – Leisel Jones (AUS), 2006
• 2022 Champion – Lara van Niekerk (RSA) – 1:05.47

Top 8:

MEN’S 100 BREASTSTROKE – FINAL

• World Record – 56.88, Adam Peaty (GBR), 2019
• Commonwealth Record – 56.88, Adam Peaty (GBR), 2019
• Commonwealth Games Record – 58.59, Adam Peaty (ENG), 2018
• 2022 Champion – James Wilby (ENG), 59.25

GOLD – 
SILVER – 
BRONZE – 

MIXED 4×100 FREESTYLE RELAY – FINAL

• World Record: 3:18.48 – USA (Alexy, Sammon, Douglass, Huske), 2025
• Commonwealth Record: 3:18.83 – Australia (Cartwright, Chalmers, Jack, O’Callaghan), 2023
• Commonwealth Games Record: 3:21.18 – Australia (Yang, Chalmers, O’Callaghan, McKeon), 2022
• 2022 Champion: Australia (Yang, Chalmers, O’Callaghan, McKeon) – 3:21.18

GOLD – 
SILVER – 
BRONZE –