Duncan Scott Loads Up With Jam-Packed Commonwealth Games Schedule

2022 Commonwealth Games

• Friday, July 29 – Wednesday, August 3, 2022
• Birmingham, England
• Sandwell Aquatic Center
• Start Times
  • Prelims: 10:30 am local / 5:30 am ET
  • Finals: 7:00 pm local / 2:00 pm ET
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Event Schedule
• Entry List

After a monster British Championships where he set a British Record in the 400 IM, Duncan Scott announced he had tested positive for COVID-19 just two weeks out of the 2022 World Championships. It seemed he still planned to race in Budapest, but he ended up withdrawing due to training struggles following the diagnosis.

At the beginning of July, the 25-year-old raced at Scottish Nationals and collected wins in the 200 fly, 200 IM, and 400 IM. That was a positive sign for him, and the Commonwealth Games will be his next big test. In his return to international racing, Scott is entered in nine events—five individuals and four relays.

His individual entries come in the men’s 100 free, 200 free, 200 fly, 200 IM, and 400 IM. If he finals in all of his events, his schedule will look like this (note that he likely won’t race in the relay prelims):

Scott’s Potential Commonwealth Games Schedule

That’s a packed schedule for Scott. While he has the first day of the meet off, on Day 2 he’s facing a triple with the 200 free, 400 IM, and men’s 4×100 free relay. Team Scotland has eight swimmers entered for the relay, so it looks like they’re planning to leave Scott off the prelims relay. Even so, that’s still five swims for him on the day.

Day 2 should answer any questions about Scott’s form. It could also dictate whether he sticks to this schedule. While he won’t have another triple, his schedule doesn’t get lighter. He’s facing a double for all finals sessions for days 3 through 6. He could potentially have prelims on days 4 and 5 off, but it’s still a heavy load to take on. By the time he gets to the 200 IM final, where he’s the Olympic silver medalist, he’ll have raced a minimum of 13 times. At most, he’ll have done 16 swims.

Even if he’s not on top form, Scott is a threat for gold in all his individual events and is invaluable to the Scottish relays. The question is if the form he brings to Birmingham allows him to complete this massive schedule and stay in the medal hunt.