July 23, 2026 — 11:30amHaven’t watched any swimming since the 2024 Paris Olympics? Or maybe you only caught a glimpse of the Australian trials in Sydney last month?Here’s your quick guide to the pool at the upcoming Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.Australia’s men’s and women’s 4x100m freestyle relay teams celebrate gold medals at last year’s world championships in Singapore.Getty ImagesWhat is the schedule?Competition begins on Friday in Glasgow and runs for six days. Heats are in the morning at 10.30am local time (7.30pm AEST), with finals running from 7pm (4am AEST). Able-body and para swimmers are both competing, with 56 gold medals up for grabs at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre, which is a small swimming facility. Australia is almost certain to top the medal tally and will win a high percentage of medals.Which Aussies are a real chance of winning gold?Freestyle is far and away Australia’s greatest strength. On the women’s side, Meg Harris (50m freestyle), Mollie O’Callaghan (100m and 200m freestyle) and Lani Pallister (400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle) start as favourites in their individual events. Among the men, Cam McEvoy (50m freestyle), Kyle Chalmers (100m freestyle) and Sam Short (400m freestyle) headline Australia’s best chances.Meg Harris wins gold in the women’s 50m freestyle at the 2025 world swimming championships.Getty ImagesShort will also contest the 800m and 1500m freestyle and is a big gold medal chance in both, although Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen looms as his biggest threat if he’s anywhere near his best. Short was arguably the most impressive swimmer at Australia’s trials and is capable of sweeping all three events. He’ll also race the 200m freestyle.Zac Stubblety-Cook shapes as the man to beat in the 200m breaststroke, while Sam Williamson is firmly in the hunt in the 50m breaststroke and potentially the 100m breaststroke.Jenna Forrester (200m and 400m individual medley), Lizzy Dekkers (200m butterfly) and Alex Perkins (100m butterfly) also enter as genuine gold medal contenders, with the absence of the United States, China and Canadian superstar Summer McIntosh leaving several events significantly more open.There are eight relays and Australia could win all of them. Four years ago, they took out seven of the relay golds on offer, with the men’s 4x100m medley relay the only one to fall short as England took the gold.Can Mollie O’Callaghan make history? Emma McKeon dominated the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, but O’Callaghan still left with five gold and two silver.This time, she could produce an even bigger haul.Six, seven or eight gold medals are within reach, with relays giving O’Callaghan plenty of chances to win medals.The Australian record is six gold medals at a single Commonwealth Games, shared by Susie O’Neill (1998), Ian Thorpe (2002) and McKeon in Birmingham.Mollie O’Callaghan was the standout for Australia at the 2025 world swimming championships.Getty ImagesHowever, backstroke is the intriguing wildcard. With Kaylee McKeown absent due to glandular fever, O’Callaghan could fancy her chances in the 50m backstroke. She has not entered the 100m backstroke.O’Callaghan is no stranger to huge programs, but with the Pan Pacific Championships only about three weeks later in California, she may decide against overloading herself.Adam Peaty watchThe biggest international name in the pool is arguably Great Britain’s Adam Peaty, although at the Commonwealth Games he competes for England. Unlike the Olympics, where British athletes represent Team GB, swimmers from the United Kingdom compete for their individual home nations – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.The six-time Olympic medallist won 100m breaststroke gold in Rio (2016) and Tokyo (2021) before claiming silver in Paris. Still the world record holder in the 100m breaststroke, Peaty has spent the past two years battling injuries and time away from the sport. Never write off a champion, but his showdown with Williamson looms as a beauty.Who benefits from the absence of McKeown and McIntosh?Two of the biggest stars in world swimming won’t be in Glasgow, with no McKeown and McIntosh in action.Between them, they could easily have claimed eight individual gold medals, leaving several events suddenly wide open.Someone like Forrester or Dekkers, both world championships medallists, could step up. Canada’s Kylie Masse is also a big shot now in the 50m and 100m backstroke with McKeown out but Australia’s Iona Anderson could easily come home with a couple of gold medals in those events.Sam Short world record watch The 22-year-old is obsessed with going under three minutes, 40 seconds and breaking Lukas Martens’ 400m freestyle world record of 3:39.96.Short’s times at the major meets over the past three years have been solid and he clocked 3:40.67 at trials last month.Coach Damien Jones believes Short is in the best shape of his career and another swimmer pushing him through the first 300 metres could be exactly what’s needed. The key will be attacking the race early and hanging on.Cam McEvoy’s last hurrah?The world record holder did exactly what he needed to at the Australian trials, clocking 21.32 in the 50m freestyle to comfortably qualify. Now the focus shifts to chasing an even faster time.Australian swimmer Cam McEvoy is the world record holder in the men’s 50m freestyle.Audrey RichardsonThe signs are encouraging. McEvoy has already swum unofficial 25m freestyle world record times – performances that won’t count because they aren’t ratified by World Aquatics. He has also recently done a 35m metre personal best at training.Expect McEvoy to cruise through the heats and semi-finals before emptying the tank in the one-lap final where it’s his race to lose.Can Australia win every freestyle event? Every freestyle title looks attainable but the hardest of the lot will be the men’s 200m freestyle.Great Britain has dominated the event recently and, despite competing as separate home nations at the Commonwealth Games, still boasts remarkable depth.Matt Richards owns the fastest time in the world this year at 1:44.77 while Australians Short (1:45.16) and Kai Taylor (1:45.30) also impressed at trials.The 200m freestyle is one of swimming’s most tactical races, where the fastest heat time does not always guarantee victory.“When you look at the times on paper, we’re in a pretty strong position to go pretty well on the medal tally,” Short said.“The 200 freestyle will be a bit tough. The British team are the twice defending Olympic champs in the 4x200 [freestyle relay] and the depth they have in that is pretty crazy.”The Gina effect Australia’s swimmers already have plenty of motivation, but there is another incentive this year.Mining billionaire Gina Rinehart will again reward medal-winning Dolphins with bonuses of $20,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze.The payments could tempt some swimmers to contest busier programs than usual.Tom Decent is the chief sports writer for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners