2026 COMMONWEALTH GAMES
Only two more days to go in the 2026 Commonwealth Games swimming competition, and the action is not slowing down. We’ve got plenty of exciting races to look forward to this morning; the men will take on the 400 IM, 50 fly, 200 breast and 100 back, while the women’s side features the 200 IM, 50 free and the early heats of the 800 free. We’ll also see the mixed 4×100 medley relay and the class S13 50 free in the para swimming events to close out the morning heats.
The session kicks off with the men’s 400 IM, with 2022 Games’ champion Lewis Clareburt in the lineup to defend his title. The New Zealander holds both the Commonwealth and Games records in the event, which he set at this meet four years ago, and is certainly a favorite in the event. Australia’s William Petric is the top seed in the penultimate circle-seeded heat and has the closest entry time to Clareburt, less than a second behind the frontrunner.
England’s Abbie Wood is the top seed heading into the women’s 200 IM with the only entry time in the 2:08 range, but Australia is primed to be a strong threat in the event as Jenna Forrester, Tara Kinder and Ella Ramsay all closely trail Wood in the seedings. There are plenty of other big names to look out for as well, with Aimee Canny, Katie Shanahan, Freya Colbert and Rebecca Meder all in the mix.
The men’s 200 breast promises to bring some excitement with Commonwealth record holder and defending champion Zac Stubblety-Cook set to hit the water. He heads into the preliminary heats as the #2 seed in the event, just behind Filip Nowacki, who is representing Jersey.
One of the last but certainly not least individual events of the morning is the men’s 100 back, which will showcase plenty of speed. South Africa’s Pieter Coetze and England’s Oliver Morgan are the top seeds heading into the competition, while the likes of Matthew Ward, Jack Skerry and Henry Allan should all help turn up the heat.
Men’s 400 IM – Heats
Top 8
Lewis Clareburt (NZL) – 4:16.49
William Petric (AUS) – 4:16.54
Max Litchfield (ENG) – 4:16.82
Lorne Wigginton (CAN) – 4:17.23
Brendan Smith (AUS) – 4:19.09
Se-Bom Lee (AUS) – 4:21.97
Charlie Hutchison (SCO) – 4:23.90
Khai Xin Tan (MAS) – 4:25.64
Coming off of his victory in the 200 fly last, Lewis Clareburt continued to shine in the water, cruising safely into the top spot in the 400 IM coming out of the morning session. Clareburt led the field right from the start and managed to hold on through the end, stopping the clock in 4:16.49, but Max Litchfield gave him a run for his money on the back half, nearly chasing him down in the freestyle. Litchfield posted a time of the 4:16.82, which was good enough to secure him the #3 spot heading into the final.
Lorne Wigginton and William Petric were neck-and-neck for much of the first heat, but it was Petric who pulled away at the end to win the heat in 4:16.54. Wigginton was close behind in 4;17.23, with both of them securing a spot in the final. Only .05 separated the winners of the first and second heat, setting the top eight qualifiers up for a close race in the final tonight.
Women’s 200 IM – Heats
World Record: 2:05.70 – Summer McIntosh (CAN), 2025
Commonwealth Record: 2:05.70 – Summer McIntosh (CAN), 2025
Games Record: 2:08.21 – Siobhan-Marie O’Connor (ENG), 2014
2022 Champion: Summer McIntosh (CAN) – 2:08.70
Top 8
Jenna Forrester (AUS) – 2:10.92
Aimee Canny (RSA) – 2:10.99
Amalie Smith (ENG) – 2:11.38
Abbie Wood (ENG) – 2:11.69
Tara Kinder (AUS) – 2:11.90
Ella Ramsay (AUS) – 2:12.42
Rebecca Meder (RSA) – 2:12.58
Katie Shanahan (SCO) – 2:13.26
Jenna Forrester posted the fastest time of the morning, touching in 2:10.92 to clinch a spot at the top of the leaderboard heading into finals. She narrowly beat out Aimee Canny (2:10.99) for the heat win, with Canny racing in just .07 behind Forrester to log the only other sub-2:11 performance of the morning. Sixteen-year-old Amalie Smith won the first heat in 2:11.38, which was good enough to land her as the #3 seed for finals, while England teammate Abbie Wood sits just behind her in the #4 spot after winning the final heat in 4:11.69. Despite being one of the top seeds heading into the competition, Freya Colbert missed out on a spot in the final after finishing 11th in 2:14.04, about 3.5 seconds off of the lifetime best that she set in March.
Men’s 50 Fly – Heats
World Record: 22.27 – Andrii Govorov (UKR), 2018
Commonwealth Record: 22.68 – Ilya Kharun (CAN), 2025
Games Record: 22.81 – Benjamin Proud (ENG), 2022
2022 Champion: Benjamin Proud (ENG) – 22.81
Top 16
Kyle Chalmers (AUS) – 23.07
Ben Armbruster (AUS) – 23.13
Calvyn Justus (RSA) – 23.44
Josh Liendo (CAN) – 23.66
Dean Fearn (SCO) – 23.66
Cam McEvoy (AUS) – 23.74
Jacob Peters (ENG) – 23.74
Tzen Wei Teong (SGP) – 23.80
Lewis Fraser (WAL) – 23.83
Mikkel Jue Jie Lee (SGP) – 23.90
Chad le Clos (RSA) – 23.92
Abduljabar Adama (NGR) – 23.99
Colins Obi Ebingha (NGR) – 24.01
Abeka Jackson (GHA) – 24.11
Jarden Eaton (RSA) – 24.19
Matthew Hamilton (NIR) – 24.25
The first heat had an exciting twist to it, with Olympian Chad le Clos racing in the middle lane after being entered with no time. He blasted ahead of the field, turning in a time of 23.92, finishing 11th overall in the heats and securing himself a spot in the semifinals. Australia’s Kyle Chalmers had the top time this morning, throwing down a time of 23.07 to win the final heat; he is closely followed in the rankings by countryman Ben Armbruster (23.13).
South Africa’s Calvyn Justus secured the #3 spot heading into the semifinals with a personal best time of 23.44, while Josh Liendo tied for 4th-place with Dean Fearn of Scotland in 23.66. Another Australian powerhouse, Cam McEvoy, was apart of another tie coming out of the heats, sharing the #6 spot with Jacob Peters in 23.74.
Women’s 50 Free – Heats
Top 16
Meg Harris (AUS) – 24.38
Shayna Jack (AUS) – 24.46
Alex Perkins (AUS) – 24.96
Chelsey Edwards (NZL) – 25.02
Caitlin de Lange (RSA) – 25.05
Theodora Taylor (WAL) – 25.11
Darcy Revitt (ENG) – 25.17
Olivia Nel (RSA) – 25.24
Jessica Thompson (RSA) – 25.39
Anahira McCutcheon (FIJ) – 25.45
Gloria Muzito (UGA) – 25.53
Zoe Pedersen (NZL) – 25.60
Meghan Higgs (WAL) – 25.61
Grace Davison (NIR) – 25.70
Emma Wood (SCO) – 25.76
Namutebi Kirabo (UGA) – 25.92
The Australians dominated the preliminary heats of the women’s 50 free, with the top three qualifying spots all going to Aussie swimmers. Meg Harris took the top spot in 24.38, narrowly beating out teammate Shayna Jack (24.46), while Alex Perkins rounded out the group in 24.96. They were also the only three swimmers to go under 25 seconds this morning. Just .2 separates the rest of the top eight, with Chelsey Edwards placing 4th in 25.02 and Olivia Nel sitting in 8th with a time of 25.24.
Men’s 200 Breast – Heats
Top 8
Oliver Dawson (CAN) – 2:10.05
Filip Nowacki (JEY) – 2:10.46
Gregory Butler (ENG) – 2:10.73
Zac Stubblety-Cook (AUS) – 2:11.07
Bailey Lello (AUS) – 2:11.65
Joshua Mitchell (SCO) – 2:13.35
George Smith (SCO) – 2:14.68
Jacob Story (COK) – 2:15.05
Eighteen-year-old Oliver Dawson, committed to swim for Indiana-Bloomington next season, turned in the fastest time of the morning. The Canadian athlete stopped the clock in 2:10.05, giving him a lead of .3 heading into the final tonight. Filip Nowacki, who currently ranks 5th in the world so far this season, is seeded 2nd coming out of the heats with a time of 2:10.46, while Gregory Butler sits in 3rd with a time of 2:10.73.
Defending champion Zac Stubblety-Cook cruised into the #4 spot with a time of 2:11.07 to secure a comfortable spot in the final; his time was a little over two seconds off the season-best time (2:08.92) that he posted at the Australian Swimming Trials in June.
Women’s 800 Free – Slowest Heats
Results:
Men’s 100 Back – Heats
Top 16
Women’s 50 Free S13 – Heats
World Record: 26.56 – Katja Dedekind (AUS), 2022
Games Record: 26.56 – Katja Dedekind (AUS), 2022
Men’s 50 Free S13 – Heats
World Record: 23.20 – Ihar Boki (BLR), 2015
Games Record: 24.32 – Nicolas-Guy Turbide (CAN), 2022
Mixed 4×100 Medley Relay – Heats
World Record: 3:37.43 – USA (2024)
Commonwealth Record: 3:37.58 – Great Britain (2021)
Games Record: 3:41.30 – Australia (2022)
2022 Champion – Australia, 3:41.30
Top 8