Colbert & Evans Make Noise On Day One Of 2026 Edinburgh International

2026 EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL

• March 13th – March 15th
• Royal Commonwealth Pool, Edinburgh, Scotland
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Draft Entries
• SwimSwam Preview
• Results
• Livestream

This year’s edition of the Edinburgh International kicked off today at the Royal Commonwealth Pool, with multiple Olympians competing in their respective races.

Although not a selection meet by itself, this three-day competition represents a significant milestone along the journey to the all-important Aquatics GB Championships in April. That meet represents the sole qualifying opportunity for British swimmers to add their names to their respective nations’ rosters for this year’s Commonwealth Games.

The men’s 200m free final contained some of the best racers in the world vying for gold, but it was 24-year-old Matt Richards who rose to the top in a gold medal-worthy performance of 1:46.81.

Splitting 52.00/54.81, Olympic champion Richards managed to hold off University of Stirling ace Jack McMillan, who settled for silver a hair behind in 1:46.90.

Racing mainstay James Guy rounded out the podium in 1:48.05. Of note, the 2020 Olympic champion in this event, Tom Dean, placed 8th in 1:50.41.

Guy has already turned in a time of 1:46.35 this season at last month’s Dubai Open to rank 12th in the world.

23-year-old Birmingham acee Ollie Morgan wasted no time making his presence known, with the 23-year-old logging a time of 53.14 to grab the gold in the men’s 100m back.

He beat the pack by nearly a second, as Bath’s Jack Skerry touched in 54.13 followed by teammate Cameron Brooker who hit 54.54.

As a friendly reminder, Morgan is the fastest British men’s 100m backstroker in history, owning a lifetime best of 52.12 from last year’s Aquatics GB Championships. At the World Championships in Singapore, Morgan placed 5th overall in a time of 52.37.

Finally, on the men’s side, Olympic multi-gold medalist Duncan Scott proved too quick to catch in the 200m IM, producing a time of 1:58.79, the sole outing of the pack to clear the 2:00 barrier.

Matthew Ward of Bath was next to the wall in 2:02.48 while Chelsea & West’s Edward Whittles rounded out the podium in 2:03.67.

Of note, Scott opted out of the 200m free and is entered in just the IMs at this competition. He has raced the 2free this season, however, clocking a mark of 1:46.26 at December’s Queensland Championships to rank 10th in the world.

Versatile Scott has earned the silver in the men’s 2IM event at two consecutive Olympic Games. At the postponed 2020 Games in Tokyo in 2021, Scott captured runner-up honors behind victor Wang Shun of China. Then last year in Paris, the most decorated Scottish athlete in history settled for silver once again, behind the formidable French force that is Leon Marchand.

As for the women here in Edinburgh, Scottish national record holder Keanna MacInnes continued her consistency campaign with a solid in-season performance of 2:08.36 to win the 200m fly.

That represents a season-best for the 24-year-old, ranking her 13th in the world right now.

British world champion Freya Colbert did her job in the women’s 400m freestyle, taking tonight’s final by nearly six seconds.

The 22-year-old Olympian turned in a time of 4:06.16 to grab the gold, registering a new lifetime best in the process.

Entering this meet, Colbert’s PB rested at the 4:06.83 notched at the 2023 Aquatics GB Championships. Tonight, she sliced over half a second off that previous benchmark to become GBR’s 5th-fastest woman of all time in this event.

Top 5 British Women’s LCM 400 Freestyle Performers All-Time

1. Joanne Jackson – 4:00.60, 2009
2. Rebecca Adlington – 4:00.79, 2009
3. Jazmin Carlin – 4:01.23, 2016
4. Holly Hibbott – 4:05.01, 2018
5. Freya Colbert – 4:06.16, 2026

Colbert also inserts herself into the season’s world rankings in slot #8.

Olympian Angharad Evans of the University of Stirling fired off a warning shot to the rest of Europe, striking a time of 1:05.46 to claim the gold in the women’s 100m breaststroke.

Opening in 31.29 and closing in 34.17, 22-year-old Evans crushed tonight’s pack by over two seconds en route to putting up her season-best.

Next to the wall was Edinburgh’s Kara Hanlon, who delivered 1:07.60 and teammate Anna Morgan, who notched 1:07.65.

As for powerhouse Evans, her 1:05.46 performance represents the 2nd-best outing of her career, within striking distance of the 1:05.37 national record she established at last year’s Aquatic GB Championships.

Evans ranks as the #2 time in the world this season, easily overtaking her previous season PB of 1:06.06 notched at last month’s BUCS LC Championships.

Additional Notes

• Loughborough’s Luke Hornsey touched first in the men’s 1500m free, logging 15:30.44 to dominate the field. Next to the wall was teammate Harry Wynne-Jones in 15:41.44 with Swansea’s Thomas Trebilcock rounding out the podium in 15:46.65.
• European Junior Championships multi-medalist Theodora Taylor proved too quick to catch in the women’s 50m free, punching a result of 24.93 for the victory. She was the sole contestant to dip under the 25-second threshold, with Ranumi Eashwarage of Canada snagging silver in 25.44 and countrywoman Kelly Choi earning bronze in 25.66.
• Josh Gammon won the men’s 50m fly contest in 23.49, a fingernail ahead of Abduljabar Adama who finished in 23.54. Jacob Peters of Bath rounded out the podium in 23.63.
• World junior champion Filip Nowacki exerted dominance over the men’s 200m breast field tonight. The 19-year-old registered 2:10.15 to beat the pack by nearly a second. Loughborough’s Greg Butler wrangled up silver in 2:11.06 and Dimitrios Tsaliagkos nabbed 2:14.09.
• Manchester Performance Centre’s Lauren Cox posted 1:00:49 to win the women’s 100m back event. Although well off the 24-year-old’s career-fastest of 59.59 from last year, it was enough to keep Canada’s Madison Kryger and Ireland’s Lottie Cullen at bay. The former hit 1:01.06 to the latter’s 1:01.38 this evening.