2026 Commonwealth Games

Welcome, SwimFans, to the first day of swimming at the 2026 Commonwealth Games!!!! It’s been a long journey to this point as these Games were originally set to be held, down under, in Australia, but citing rising costs, the state of Victoria pulled out of its hosting duties. Thankfully, Scotland’s most populous city was able to step in and take over hosting duties. This edition of the Games, the 23rd, is different from past editions as, in addition to being pared down to combat rising costs, they are the first to be held during the reign of King Charles III, as his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, had been monarch of the Commonwealth realm since 1952. Swimming, one of the 10 sports being contested, has not been scaled down and is set to start with some fireworks as some of the most anticipated events kick things off.

If anyone was curious, I lived south of Glasgow in the East Ayrshire village of Stair when I was six, attending Coylton Primary School for P2 and P3. I currently reside outside of Boston, which recently hosted the Tartan Army for several days, as the Scottish National football team competed. I can assure you, however, any bias towards Scotland and its athletes should be viewed entirely as incidental. Now with that out of the way, let’s Boogie.

The women’s 400 free and men’s 200 IM start the action off with a bang as some of the biggest names in the swimming world look to start their meet off on the right foot. The 400 free looks to be a grudge match between the antipodean nations of Australia and New Zealand. Top seed Lani Pallister of Australia is the top seed with an entry time of 3:58.87 and will have her training partner and compatriot Jenna Forrester with her in the last heat as they square off against New Zealand’s Eve Thomas. One heat prior, 2024 World Champion Erika Fairweather of New Zealand will hope that she and her fellow Kiwi Caitlin Deans can fend off the Aussie Amelia Weber.

With just three heats, the men’s 200 IM jumps into the action quickly with the 3rd seed Lewis Clareburt looking to add to the hopefully strong start his fellow Kiwis established in the heat prior. The young and talented Canadian Lorne Wigginton will flank Clareburt on one side, with England’s Tom Dean on the other. Dean, one of England’s most decorated Commonwealth medalists, having won seven medals four years ago, is coming off a shoulder injury, so all eyes will be looking to see what form he is in. However, his heat and the second heat will certainly lack the enthusiasm of the final heat, as all three of Scotland’s entries occupy the middle lanes. Surrounded by Evan Jones and Matthew Ward, Duncan Scott, an eight-time Olympic medalist and 13-time Commonwealth medalist, will look to kick off his title defense in front of his home nation. Scott is far from the only Scot in action today; Katie Shanahan and Holly McGill are well placed in the 200 back. They’ll have to contend with the Australian trio of Hannah Fredericks, Jenna Forrester and top-seeded Iona Anderson if they wish to earn a podium spot tonight.

Events 200 meters and longer move directly to finals, but those shorter than 200 meters will see 16 swimmers advance from the morning’s prelims into the semifinals. While the depth of the field may not require swimmers to go full speed to make the top 16, it’ll give us, as viewers, a good gauge of their form. The men’s 50 back is one such race, as we get our first good look at Pieter Coetze after he lit up the competition at Worlds last summer. In Singapore, the South African took gold in the 100 back, and claimed runner-up honors in both the 50 and 200. This morning, he’ll look to better the times put up by his main rivals Isaac Cooper and Oliver Morgan from the preceding heats.

The 100 breaststroke, too, will be an interesting watch as world record holder Adam Ramsay-Peaty takes to the water. The recently married star has been embroiled in controversy lately and will be looking for a strong performance to refocus his attention on swimming. Ramsay-Peaty has an interesting relationship with the Games, winning the 50 breaststroke in Birmingham to complete his collection of medals in the event. However, he also missed the podium in this event, stating after that he wasn’t bothered by it. The Englishman is the top seed, but his margin over rivals Sam Williamson, Filip Nowacki and Oliver Dawson is not large, so expect there to be some fast swimming this morning.

Scattered throughout the morning are the para events. The S13 100 freestyle kicks things off for the para athletes with Jenna Jones of Australia the top seed in the women’s event. There are only eight entrants, but less than a second separates the top six, and just .12 separates first from fourth, so expect the finish this morning to be close. The men’s race, too, has just one heat, but the 2nd seed Stephen Clegg will certainly have most of the support of the crowd as the Scot and six-time Paralympic medalist chases down the top-seeded South African Nathan Hendrick.

The session concludes with the prelims of the women’s and men’s 4×100 free relays. There are only 10 women’s entries and 15 men’s entries, so top seeds Australia won’t have to use all their strengths this morning, but look for the teams seeded 7th-10th to be fighting for a spot in the final tonight.

Women’s 400 Free – Prelims

Top 8:

Erika Fairweather (New Zealand) – 4:06.42
Lani Pallister (Australia) – 4:06.88
Jenna Forrester (Australia) – 4:07.34
Amelia Weber (Australia) – 4:08.12
Caitlin Deans (New Zealand) – 4:10.16
Ella Jansen (Canada) – 4:10.55
Eve Thomas (New Zealand) – 4:11.05
Gan Ching Hwee (Singapore) – 4:11.10

Through the first two heats, the time of 4:16.74 to beat belonged to Evi Mackie, who ignited the crowd as the Scot surged past Johanna Evans in the closing length of the 400 to overtake the Bahamian record holder. Her time didn’t last too long atop the leaderboard as six swimmers in the 3rd heat, the first of the circle seeded heats, surpassed that mark.

Leading the charge in heat 3 was the 2024 World Champion Erika Fairweather. One of the few swimmers to ever have broken the 4:00 barrier in the event, the New Zealander had firm control of the field, leading the race from start to finish. She opened in 2:01.22, leading Amelia Weber by just .26 and Caitlin Deans‘ 2:02.65, but Fairweather’s consistency was enough to keep them at bay as Weber and Deans started to fade away. The Kiwi cruised come in a 30.73 to touch the wall in 4:06.42, with Weber back at 4:08.12 and Deans two seconds behind her at 4:10.16.

The last heat saw the top seed Lani Pallister swim a near identical time to her biggest rival, Fairweather, as she won the heat in a time of 4:06.88. Pallister opened in 2:01.31, but then seemed to have some fun as she pounded the 3rd 100 splitting 30.08 and 30.41 before completely shutting things down going 33.06 and 32.02 on the last 100. Her slowdown nearly had her rundown by her training partner and compatriot Jenna Forrester. Out in 2:02.90, Forrester used a 31.44/30.72 last 100 to bring what was a four second gap at the 300 to just under one as she touched 2nd in 4:07.34. In a very close race for 3rd, Eve Thomas out touched Singapore Gan Ching Hwee 4:11.05 to 4:11.10.

MEN’S 200 IM – Prelims

World Record: 1:52.69 – Leon Marchand (FRA), 2025
Commonwealth Record: 1:55.28 – Duncan Scott (GBR), 2021
Commonwealth Games Record: 1:56.88 – Duncan Scott (SCO), 2022
2022 Champion: Duncan Scott (SCO) – 1:56.88

Top 8:

William Petric (Australia) – 1:58.70
Thomas Dean (England) – 1:58.75
Max Litchfield (England) – 1:58.75
Lewis Clareburt (New Zealand) – 1:58.79
Duncan Scott (Scotland) – 1:58.81
Brendon Smith (Australia) – 1:59.02
Evan Jones (Scotland) – 1:59.04
Lorne Wigginton (Canada) – 1:59.09

Scotland’s three entrants did their best to get the crowd behind them in the last heat of the men’s 200 IM, but the speed of the early heats made it difficult for all three to advance. The first heat saw Tom Dean and Lewis Clareburt get to the first wall in a dead tie of 25.45, with Clareburt taking the lead after the backstroke 55.85 to 56.22. Dean, representing England, made up that gap in the breaststroke using a strong 33.83 split to pull himself into the lead and held off the Kiwi, 1:58.75 to 1:58.79. Joining the pair with a sub two-minute performance was Lorne Wigginton of Canada, who just .34  back of Dean at 1:59.09.

The 2nd heat was a faster affair with the 2nd seed William Petric opening in 25.42. The Australian Olympian built upon his early lead and hit the back to breaststroke turn at 55.47. He had a full half a second lead over Max Litchfield after the breaststroke, but the English swimmer powered home in 28.42 to come within .05 of Petric, falling just short of winning the heat, 1:58.75 to 1:58.70. Petric’s fellow Aussie, Brendon Smith, is more known for his 400 IM prowess, like Litchfield, but he used a blistering 28.07 to close the gap to Petric and Litchfield to touch just this side of 1:59, at 1:59.02.

With six swimmers under 1:59.09, the Scottish trio of Duncan Scott, Evan Jones and Matthew Ward knew their target time. Surprisingly, Scott, the defending champion and Commonwealth record holder was not out fastest, hitting the 50 wall at 25.26, trailing the speedy Jones (25.01) and the South African Kris Mihaylov (25.08). However, Scott, used his experience to power past the pair and moved into the lead at the 100 (54.57) and never looked back cruising home in 35.33 and 28.91 to take the win in 1:58.81. Jones, who was leading at the 50, remained in 2nd throughout the race and took 2nd in 1:59.04. The last Scotsman in the heat, Ward, was 5th after the fly (25.86), but moved up to 3rd after th back and came home just behind Scott and Jones, although his time of 1:59.59 slots him into 9th place on the outside of the final.

WOMEN’S S13 100 Free – Prelims

Top 8:

Jenna Jones S12 (Australia) – 1:04.67
Ela Letton-Jones S12 (Wales) – 1:04.73
Danika Vyncke S13 (South Africa) – 1:05.13
Kirralee Hayes S13 (Australia) – 1:05.24
Ursula Carroll S13 (England) – 1:05.25
Mia Hogan S13 (Australia) – 1:05.29
Astrid Carroll S12 (Scotland) – 1:05.84
Alani Ferreira S12 (South Africa) – 1:06.95

Australia’s Jenna Jones set herself up for a strong battle tonight with Wales’s Ela Letton-Jones in the final of S13 100 free. Jones, the top seed opened in 30.29, nearly a full second faster than the Welshwomen, but only had a margin of victory of .06 as Letton-Jones closed like a freight train, using a 33.50 to touch 2nd 1:04.73 to 1:04.67. Don’t sleep on Danika Vyncke, who produced a new African record in the heats, taking the 3rd seed tonight, with a time of 1:05.13.

MEN’S S13 100 Free – Prelims

Top 8:

Stephen Clegg S12 (Scotland) – 56.57
Nathan Hendricks S13 (South Africa) – 56.66
R.V.V.B.K. Budigina S13 (India) – 57.10
James Clegg S12 (Scotland) – 57.50
Matthew Redfern S13 (England) – 58.07
Zhi Wei Wong S13 (Singapore) – 59.93
Hunter Helberg S11 (Canada) – 1:05.24
Ali Imam S11 (India) – 1:05.32

The Clegg brothers of Scotland secured themselves lanes 4 and 6 tonight as Stephen Clegg secured the top seed tonight with a strong swim of 56.57. The s12 athlete did have the fastest first 50 as Nathan Hendricks, 26.36, and Clegg’s brother James, 27.13, were both faster, but Stephen’s 29.07 last 50 reeled them.

WOMEN’S 200 BACKSTROKE – Prelims

Top 8:

Hannah Fredericks (Australia) – 2:09.81
Holly McGill (Scotland) – 2:09.98
Jenna Forrester (Australia) – 2:10.03
Katie Shanahan (Scotland) – 2:10.31
Iona Anderson (Australia) – 2:11.08
Lottie Cullen (Northern Ireland) – 2:12.23
Grace Davison (Northern Ireland) – 2:12.24
Madison Kryger (Canada) – 2:12.36

It wasn’t the Australian that might have been expected atop the field, but the nation still maintains its dominance in the backstroke event as Hannah Fredericks‘s 2:09.81 from the first heat turned out to be the fastest swim of the session. Out in 30.44 and 1:03.39 at the 100, the Aussie led Northern Ireland’s Lottie Cullen and Canada’s Madison Kryger by nearly a second and only continued to build that lead. Closing in 33.33 and 33.09, Fredericks touched well ahead of Cullen’s 2:12.23 and Kryger’s 2:12.36.

With a time to target, home nation favorite Katie Shanahan got the crowd excited as she opened up the race with over half a second advantage at the 50 wall, splitting 31.12. 1:03.78 at the 100, Shanahan, the defending bronze medalist in this event, led Jenna Forrester by over a full second at the halfway mark, with the Australian flipping at the 100-meter mark in 1:04.90. Forrester is coming off a very quick turnaround having just swum the heats of the 400 freestyle a few events prior. However, that double seemed to affect her very little as she powered home with a last 50 of 32.12, more than a full second faster than Shanahan and her 33.18. Forrester late speed ended up giving her the heat win, earning a 2:10.03, .28 ahead of the Scot’s 2:10.31. South Africa’s Hannah Pearse, 3rd from start to finish, touched the wall in 2:12.37.

Iona Anderson opened up the last heat in a blistering 1st 50, going sub-30 as she flipped in 29.68, a full second clear of Delia Lloyd’s 30.93 and Holly McGill‘s 31.63. The Australian, a two time Olympic medalist, carried her speed into the next 50, flipping at the halfway turn in 1:01.99, the lone sub-1:03 split in the hole field. She may have been using her speed to try out some pacing for tonight, but Anderson really shut things down and looked to be dragging over the last 100, closing in 34.09 and 35.00 to finish in a time of 2:11.08. With Anderson flagging, Scotland’s McGill used the crowd’s support to close in 32.67 and 32.54 to surge past the Australian to take the win in 2:09.98.

MEN’S 50 BACKSTROKE – Prelims

Top 16:

Pieter Coetze (South Africa) – 24.45 ***NEW GAMES RECORD***
Ruard van Renen (South Africa) – 24.78
Oliver Morgan (England) – 24.91
Cameron Brooker (England) – 25.07
Jack Skerry (England) – 25.08
Henry Allan (Australia) – 25.09
Isaac Cooper (Australia) – 25.11
Matthew Ward (Scotland) – 25.16
Scott Gibson (Scotland) – 25.18
Benjamin Winterborn (Canada) – 25.37
Patrick Johnston (Northern Ireland) – 25.38
Conor Ferguson (Northern Ireland) – 25.48
Jack Harvey (Bermuda) – 25.50
Srihari Nataraj (India) – 25.52
Jamie Ferguson (Scotland) – 25.52
Lamar Taylor (Bahamas) – 25.91

South Africa made its presence well known this morning as the Pieter Coetze and Ruard van Renen each secured lane 4 tonight in the two semifinals. Swimming out of the last prelims heat, Coetze, the reigning World and Commonwealth silver medalist, had an amazing start and easily passed his compatriot van Renen and the 4th seed Henry Allan and had established an insurmountable lead. The African record holder was off his best of 24.17, by a bit but his 24.45 was enough to top the field and undercut the Commonwealth Games record of 24.62 set by Liam Tancock back in 2010. .33 back at 24.78 in the last heat as van Renen, a result that makes him the 2nd fastest performer on the morning.

4th on the psych sheet, Australia’s Henry Allan will have to be on his game tonight as his 25.09 ranks 6th after this morning. Sitting in 3rd right now is England’s Oliver Morgan who joined the South Africans under the 25.00 mark with his 24.91. It’s a tight field after the top two as less than .30 separated 3rd and 9th. Allan’s compatriot and the 3rd seed Isaac Cooper is currently ranked 8th at 25.11, .05 ahead of Matthew Ward, who is just coming out of the heats of the men’s 200 IM.

WOMEN’S 50 BUTTERFLY – Prelims

Top 16:

Alex Perkins (Australia) – 25.55
Erin Gallagher (South Africa) – 25.70
Jessica Thompson (South Africa) – 26.24
Caitlin de Lange (South Africa) – 26.34
Hazel Ouwehand (New Zealand) – 26.40
Ciara Schlosshan (Scotland) – 26.50
Zoe Pedersen (New Zealand) – 26.60
Eva Okaro (England) – 26.67
Lucy Grieve (Scotland) – 26.69
Theodora Taylor (Wales) – 26.88
Kylie Masse (Canada) – 27.05
Anahira McCutcheon (Fiji) – 27.09
Emma Harvey (Bermuda) – 27.16
Jessica Calderbank (Jamaica) – 27.17
Lizzy Dekkers (Australia) – 27.26
Elan Daley (Bermuda) – 27.56

South Africa carried over their success in the men’s 50 backstroke into the women’s 50 fly as all three of their athletes produced strong results, finishing among the top four. The 2nd seed Erin Gallagher produced one of two sub-26 swims this morning, as her 25.70 will slot her into lane 4 tonight of the first semifinal. The national record holder, Gallagher has been faster this season, producing a 25.63 at her nationals, but with three rounds of the event, Gallagher didn’t need to be at her best to advance.

Her compatriots Jessica Thompson and Caitlin de Lange took the two spots behind her recording results of 26.24 and 26.34 respectively. The pair, entered the meet as the 6th and 5th seeds but will have a lot of work to do if they wish to improve their ranking further as they’ll be chasing the very fast Alex Perkins. The Australian and top seed handily won the last heat of the event, cruising to the wall in 25.55. Like Gallagher, her time is a little off her entry time of 25.31 and her season best of 25.44, but that doesn’t matter much in prelims. Her time and that of Gallagher’s is noticeably as they are already faster than the winning time from four years ago, when Emma McKeon took gold in 25.90.

MEN’S 100 BREASTSTROKE – Prelims

Top 16: 

Adam Ramsay-Peaty (England) – 59.46
Sam Williamson (Australia) – 59.56
Filip Nowacki (Jersey) – 59.93
Michael Houlie (South Africa) – 1:00.14
Zac Stubblety-Cook (Australia) – 1:00.21
Oliver Dawson (Canada) – 1:00.33
Gregory Butler (England) – 1:00.61
Chris Smith (South Africa) – 1:00.86
Bailey Lello (Australia) – 1:00.96
Max Morgan (England) – 1:01.22
George Smith (Scotland) – 1:01.63
Adrian Robinson (Botswana) – 1:01.65
Joshua Mitchell (Scotland) – 1:01.77
Josh Inglis (Wales) – 1:02.23
Kito Campbell (Jamaica) – 1:02.31
Jacob Story (Cook Islands) – 1:02.43

A roughly 15-minute delay between the penultimate and last heat due to a disconnected lane rope didn’t seem to affect the top seed, Adam Ramsay-Peaty, as the World Record produced the morning’s top time. The World Record holder, Ramsay-Peaty opened up the heat in 27.27, ahead of Canada’s Oliver Dawson (28.00). The Englishman slowed on the last 50, coming home in 32.19 but had enough of a lead to hold off the fast-charging Zac Stubblety-Cook, whose 31.38 last 50 was enough to pass Dawson to earn 2nd in the heat with a result of 1:00.21.

Two other swimmers produced sub-60 results as the 2nd and 3rd seeds Sam Williamson and Filip Nowacki won their respective heats in times of 59.56 and 59.93. Nowacki wasn’t assured a victory in his heat as he had to run down South Africa’s Michael Houlie who exploded off the blocks with a 26.56 first 50. The University of Tennessee product paid for his early speed, coming home in 33.58, the slowest of the top 16, but his front-end power was enough to earn him the 4th seed tonight. Of note, Houlie’s opening 50 was faster than Peaty’s winning time in the 50-breaststroke last year (26.76). It would also have earned the silver medal at World’s last year, just .02 back of the gold.

WOMEN’S SM10 200 IM- Prelims

Top 8:

Faye Rogers SM10 (Scotland) – 2:32.00
Katie Cosgriffe SM10 (Canada) – 2:33.05
Jasmine Greenwood SM10 (Australia) – 2:35.30
Mary Jibb SM10 (Canada) – 2:36.20
Toni Shaw SM9 (Scotland) – 2:40.67
Brock Whiston SM9 (England) – 2:47.98
Tianna Asala SM10 (Canada) – 2:49.80
Evie Lambert SM10 (England) – 2:51.59

Faye Rogers used a strong butterfly split of 30.57, the only sub-31 second split in the field to earn the top seed in the final tonight as the Scot got the support of the crowd touching the wall in 2:32.00. Her time, a full second clear of Canada’s Katie Cosgriffe, is a 1.29 seconds faster than the winning time from four years ago, but Jasmine Greenwood is in the field and should be faster tonight.

MEN’S S10 100 BUTTERFLY – Prelims

World Record: 54.15 – Maksym Krypak (UKR), 2021
Commonwealth Games Record – 56.91, Col Pearse (AUS), 2022
2022 Champion – Col Pearse (AUS), 56.91

Top 8:

Fernando Lu S10 (Canada) – 58.23
Col Pearse S10 (Australia) – 58.68
Alex Saffy S10 (Australia) – 59.49
Alexander Elliot S10 (Canada) – 1:01.37
Jack Gill S10 (Canada) – 1:01.49
Barry McClements S9 (Northern Ireland) – 1:01.92
Oliver Carter S9 (Scotland) – 1:02.30

Canada’s Fernando Lu earned the top seed in the final tonight as he posted a mark of 58.23 in the prelims of the men’s 100 fly. There were only seven entries in the field this morning, so swimmers may have been keeping things close to the chest and saving energy for the final tonight, so look for the defending champion Col Pearse to make a run at Lu tonight.

WOMEN’S 4×100 FREESTYLE RELAY – Prelims

World Record: 3:27.96 – Australia (O’Callaghan, Jack, Harris, McKeon), 2023
Commonwealth Record: 3:27.96 – Australia (O’Callaghan, Jack, Harris, McKeon), 2023
Commonwealth Games Record: 3:30.05 – Australia (Jack, B. Campbell, McKeon, C. Campbell), 2018
2022 Champion: Australia (Wilson, Jack, O’Callaghan, McKeon) –  3:30.64

Top 8:

Australia (Casey, Castelluzzo, Miller, Cole) – 3:37.95
England (Wood, Little, Revitt, Smith) – 3:40.92
Wales (Higgs, Harris, Sutton, Davies) – 3:42.41
Scotland (Barnes, Hope, Mackie, Grieve) – 3:43.69
South Africa (Nel, Meder, Thompson, de Lange) – 3:43.87
Northern Ireland (Hill, Hughes, McCartney, Catterson) – 3:44.08
Guernsey (Tostevin, Rautenbach, Bourgaize, Rabey) – 3:55.88
Cayman Islands (Rabess, Broadbelt, Barrowman) – 3:58.11

The Australian women were very much playing to script as the controlled the women’s 4×100 free relay. Hannah Casey led off in 53.73, the lone sub 54, let alone sub 55 split in the field and handded things over to Brittany Castelluzzo and Inez Miller who had strong swims of 53.63 and 53.7, the lone sub 54 flying starts. Jessica Cole anchored in 56.80, but the Australians had such a lead that the 200 fly specialists did only what she needed to get the Australians into the final. Expect for the world record holders to bring in Mollie O’Callaghan, Shayna Jack, Meg Harris, and likely Alex Perkins, who took the top seed in the 50 fly this morning.

England too, has some changes to make. Abbie Wood led off in 55.17 for the English, and Erin Little had a strong 54.95 on the 2nd leg, but England, like Australia may swap out their whole relay as they have Eva Okaro, Freya Colbert, Freya Anderson and Leah Schlosshan on their bench for tonight.

The remaining nations don’t have the depth to make wholesale swaps but Wales, Scotland and South Africa each could make moves to improve their chances this evening. The Welsh had a strong performance this morning to nab the 3rd seed with Bex Sutton producing a strong 54.91 3rd leg for the team. Expect Theodora Taylor to come in and help her nation stay in the presumptive bronze position. The Scottish team got the crowd behind them as they finished 2nd in the first heat recording a time of 3:43.69, but will be looking for the podium tonight as they add Emma Wood and Evelyn Davis to the squad, likely joining Lucy Hope (55.64) and Lucy Grieve (55.79) tonight.

South Africa, 5th this morning with a 3:54.87 will have several swaps as well with Erin Gallagher and Aimme Canny likely joining Rebecca Meder (54.52) and Caitlin de Lange (55.54). The Canadians, only six swimmers strong did not field a team this morning.

MEN’S 4×100 FREESTYLE RELAY – Prelims

World Record: 3:08.24 – USA (Phelps, Weber-Gale, Jones, Lezak), 2008
Commonwealth Record: 3:08.97 – Australia (Southam, Taylor, Giuliani, Chalmers), 2025
Commonwealth Games Record: 3:11.12 – Australia (Southam, Incerti, Yang, Chalmers) , 2022
2022 Champion: Australia (Southam, Incerti, Yang, Chalmers) – 3:11.12

Top 8:

Australia (Sommerville, Temple, Petric, Jack) – 3:14.53
England (Mildred, Brooker, Morgan, Dean) – 3:14.68
Canada (Liendo, Sauve, Winterborn, Wigginton) – 3:17.11
South Africa (Mihaylov, Brooks, van Renen, le Clos) – 3:18.14
Scotland (Krawiec, Fearn, Norris, Smith) – 3:18.68
Malaysia (Khiew, Singh Chahal, Lim, Tan) – 3:23.90
Isle of Man (Watterson, Robinson, Kelly, Allen) – 3:24.69
Cayman Islands (Allison, Kish, MacDonald, Bain) – 3:26.91

The second heat was a faster affair as Australia and England were neck and neck for much of the race. The defending champions, Australia opened with Edward Sommerville. He hit the wall in 48.54, turning things over to butterflier Matthew Temple, who produced a 48.44, followed William Petric and Jamie Jack, who split 49.19 and 48.36 respectively. The quartet produced a mark of 3:14.53, but expect them to be much faster as Kyle Chalmers, Flynn Southam and Kai Taylor have yet to swim.

Will Petric’s inclusion on the relay had some questioning the decision as he is the final of the 200 IM tonight, a feat shared by Tom Dean of England. While Petric produced a controlled 49.19, Dean dropped a hammer, anchoring England in 47.99 to have the team touch .15 back of the Aussie.  Cameron Brooked produced a good 48.34 on the 2nd leg, but his result and Dean’s may not be fast enough, as like Australia, the English have the depth to make a full swap.

The first heat was a little slower, but it saw a three-way battle between Canada, South Africa and Scotland. Canada used their best swimmers this morning with Josh Liendo opening in 48.62 followed by Antoine Sauve’s 49.14. With just six swimmers on the roster, Canada won’t be able to bring in new leg, so if they want to improve upon their 3:17.11 time, they will have to work on their exchanges and swim faster.

South Africa and Scotland finished a second back of Canada at 3:18.14 and 3:18.68 respectively, but each has the ability to bring in some new legs tonight. Hunting for yet another Commonwealth medal South Africa’s Chad le Clos anchored his nation’s relay. The 18-time Commonwealth medalist opened in 23.11 but paid for his early speed coming homed in 27.22 to split 50.33. The lone swimmer from his nation above 50.00, le Clos likely will be swapped out for 50 back top seed Pieter Coetze.

Wales, a favorite to make the final, was DQed in the prelims, meaning that the Welsh will have to wait to see Matt Richards take to the water.