By Mark Wild on SwimSwam
2026 Commonwealth Games
July 24 – 29, 2026 (pool swimming) Glasgow, Scotland Tollcross International Swimming Centre LCM (50m) Meet Central Preview IndexThe current world record holder in both of the Individual Medley events, Summer McIntosh had an amazing 2022, winning two gold medals at the World Championships, before heading to the Commonwealth Games, where she swept the IMs, nearly breaking the Games record of Siobhan-Marie O’Connor in the 200 IM but smashing the Games and Commonwealth record in the 400 IM, posting a time of 4:29.01, the then 4th fastest performance of all time.
That said, McIntosh will not be making the trip back to Britain to defend her titles. In fact, of the six podium positions from Birmingham, only two spots have the potential for a repeat, as the bronze medalists, England’s Abbie Wood and Scotland’s Katie Shanahan, will look to defend (or improve) their position on the podium, this time with Shanahan in front of the partisan home crowd, with Glasgow playing host.
WOMEN’S 200 I.M. – By the Numbers
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) – 2:08.70In 2022, McIntosh set the World Junior record, hitting a mark of 2:08.70, nearly a second clear of Kaylee McKeown and nearly two ahead of Wood. Wood, who represents England, and her 2:10.68 was nearly two seconds clear of the rest of the field, including South Africa’s Rebecca Meder, and as such has to be a favorite to at least medal again, as both McIntosh and McKeown are absent.
Wood hasn’t been resting on her laurels, however, and not only has she kept her podium hopes alive, but she has become one of the best IMers in the world. A 2024 double bronze medalist in the IMs at Worlds, Wood finished 5th last summer in Singapore, going 2:09.92 in the final. This year, however, Wood has been on fire, hitting a new personal best and winning the event at the 2026 Aquatics GB championships. Her mark of 2:08.17 not only makes her the 4th-fastest performer this season but also clocks her in as the 15th-fastest performer of all time.
A strong backhalfer, Wood’s time is already under the Games record set by O’Connor back in 2014, incidentally when the meet was last held in Glasgow. She will have her work cut out for her if she hopes to challenge O’Connor’s British record of 2:06.88, but could be pushed to those heights by a cadre of Australians.
Leading the charge for the Aussies is Jenna Forrester. Much more known for her 400 IM prowess, being a two-time Worlds medalist in the longer medley event, Forrester had a strong Australian trials, swimming a 2:09.07 in the final to place ahead of Ella Ramsay and Tara Kinder, both of whom were semifinalists in the event last summer in Singapore. Forrester, who owns a PB of 2:08.98 from her 4th place finish in the event back in 2023, is looking very much back in form to rival that time and push Wood.
Forrester currently sits just three spots back in the world ranking, occupying 7th, but she is far from the only Australian in the top 25. Ramsay wasn’t too far behind her at Trials, hitting the wall in 2:09.40 and currently sits 11th, 4th spots ahead of Kinder, who earned her ticket to Glasgow with her 2:10.14 from Trials. Both have been faster, with Kinder’s best of 2:09.45 coming from last year’s Worlds, while Ramsay was 2:09.21 at the 2025 Australian Trials. Ramsay, a strong breaststroker, owns both a World and Olympic silver medal, but both come in relays, so the 22-year-old who recently changed training bases will be looking for her first individual international medal.
It’s not just the Australians who pose a threat to Wood’s medal chances, however, as three other presumptive entrants are ranked in the world’s top 25 this season. Wood’s compatriots Amalie Smith and Freya Colbert come in as the 18th and 20th fastest this season. Smith sits two spots ahead of Colbert thanks to her 2:10.32 from the AP Race London from May, while Colbert, the recently minted British 200 free record holder, is just .12 back at 2:10.48 from her performance at the Edinburgh International. Colbert got the better of the two at their qualifying meet, however, hitting the wall in 2:10.82 to Smith’s 2:11.18. Of the two, Colbert has the better pedigree, having won the 400 IM at the 2024 Worlds as well as placing 4th in the 400 IM at the Olympics, while Smith, who is just 16, is making her senior international meet debut, but does have plenty of racing experience, twice medaling in this event at the junior level, winning the silver last summer at Junior Worlds.
The pair definitely should not be resting easy in the prelims, however, as there are a pair of South Africans who will be looking to find their way into the final and onto the podium. In 2022, Rebecca Meder was 2nd only to McIntosh in the prelims and narrowly missed a podium spot, finishing 4th in the final with a time of 2:12.01. Since then, she has made the semifinals at the last three major international meets (2023 Worlds, 2024 Olympics and 2025 Worlds). She placed 2nd at the SA trials in 2:11.29, but with a PB of 2:10.39, she could easily find herself in medal conversations.
She’ll likely have to get by her compatriot Aimee Canny first. Canny got the better of her at their nation’s trials back in April, hitting the wall in 2:10.90. Still, the University of Virginia-based swimmer joined the sub-2:10 club at last month’s Pro Swim Series, in Indianapolis, where she hit the wall in 2:09.99. Like Wood, Canny is a strong backhalf swimmer, so she may make a late charge for the podium.
Canada has long been a stalwart in the event, placing two swimmers into the event for the last four editions of the meet, but they may be without a representative this year as they send just a team of six female swimmers to the meet. Both Ella Jansen and Julie Brousseau are in the conversation for the 400 IM, but may not have the speed needed to compete in the shorter IM. Brousseau did not swim the event at the recent Canadian trials, while Jansen, who won the event, posted a time of 2:12.28, which is a PB but may not be enough to make the final. Northern Ireland’s Ellie McCartney is right in there with Jansen, owning a personal best of 2:12.50 from her victory at the 2025 U23 Championships.
One swimmer not yet mentioned who could pose a real threat for a medal is Scotland’s own Katie Shanahan. The 22-year-old is better known for her prowess in the 400 IM and 200 backstroke, having won the silver medal in the latter at the 2022 European Championships, but the Scot does own a personal best of 2:09.40 from the 2023 GB Championships. She contested the event last summer in Singapore but failed to advance to the semifinals, posting a 2:12.42 in prelims. She did not compete in the event at the Aquatics GB Championships, but did swim last month at the Scottish National Open Swimming Championships, going 2:12.49 in the final.
SwimSwam’s Picks
Place Name Nation Season Best Lifetime Best 1 Abbie Wood ENG 2:08.17 2:08.17 2 Jenna Forrester AUS 2:09.07 2:08.98 3 Ella Ramsay AUS 2:09.40 2:09.21 4 Aimee Canny RSA 2:09.99 2:09.99 5 Freya Colbert ENG 2:10.48 2:10.46 6 Tara Kinder AUS 2:10.14 2:09.45 7 Amalie Smith ENG 2:10.32 2:10.32 8 Rebecca Meder RSA 2:11.29 2:10.39WOMEN’S 400 I.M. – By the Numbers
World Record: 4:23.65 – Summer McIntosh (CAN), 2025 Commonwealth Record: 4:23.65 – Summer McIntosh (CAN), 2025 Games Record: 4:29.01 – Summer McIntosh (CAN), 2025 2022 Champion: Summer McIntosh (CAN) – 4:29.01Much like in the 200 IM, only one medalist returns to the Games, with Scotland’s Katie Shanahan looking to impress in front of her home nation. As mentioned above, Shanahan is also a strong 200 backstroker as she is the reigning Commonwealth 200 backstroke bronze medalist. The events do not clash with one another, but the Scot has certainly been favoring the backstroke more, as not only did she not swim the 400 IM this year at the Aquatics GB meet, but it also appears she has taken up the event since May of last year.
Her absence, or likely absence, makes way for the three swimmers behind her in 2022 to duke it out for podium positions. In 2022, Freya Colbert fell just .43 short of the podium, outtouching both Canada’s Ella Jansen and Jenna Forrester for the 4th place spot. While all three have a shot of making the podium, it’s the Australian, Forrester, who enters as the presumptive favorite.
A two-time Worlds medalist in the event, Forrester entered this year with a personal best of 4:32.30, but took a sizeable chunk out of that at last month’s Australian Trials. After easily qualifying first into the final with a 4:41.56 prelims time, Forrester attacked the rack from the get-go, building a lead of over six seconds at the 200-meter turn and carrying that momentum into a nearly eight-second win and new personal best of 4:31.47. Her result ranks her as the 3rd-fastest performer of the year and the only swimmer in the likely field under the 4:35 mark this season.
Colbert and Jansen, who beat Forrester back in 2022, have also improved upon those results and times. Colbert, in the intervening four years, won the event at the 2024 Worlds in Doha, going 4:37.14 in the final. She also fell just short of the podium later that same year at the Olympics, posting 4:35.67 in the final to finish 4th overall. She made yet another final last year in Singapore, but placed just 8th with a time of 4:40.21, and since then has seemingly swum the event only once, going 4:47.44 at the BUCS Championships in February of this year. The 3rd fastest Brit ever, Colbert, if she swims the event (it does fall in the same session as the final of the 100 free and 4×200 free relay), could be up for a podium position, but she could just as easily find herself displaced among the top three fastest Brits, as her younger teammate Amelia Smith is on the cusp of joining the sub-4:35 club.
Smith, just 16, is already a star on the junior circuit, having won the 400 IM twice at the European Juniors, most recently at the 2026 edition of the meet held just two weeks ago. Her winning time of 4:35.32 is her third swim in the 4:35 range, as she won the event at the Aquatics GB Championships in April in 4:35.46, before lowering her best to 4:35.18 at the AP Race London in May. Ranked 8th in the world this season with that time, Smith finds herself in a good position to medal, as she is clear of the rest of the presumptive field by over two seconds.
Jansen, the Canadian, currently sits 23rd in the world this year, having placed 2nd in the event at her trials in a time of 4:38.17. She has been as fast as 4:37.35, taking silver in the event at the World Juniors back in 2023, a feat that Smith equaled last year. While her time may have her off the podium, the Tennessee-based swimmer had a very strong performance at NCAAs, placing 4th in the event and breaking the 4:00-minute barrier for the first time, going 3:59.59 in the yards version of the event. This may be Jansen’s and especially her teammate Julie Brousseau‘s time to shine, as the pair have not swum the event often at International meets, with the likes of McIntosh and Mary-Sophie Harvey taking the spots last year in Singapore. Brousseau, who is Jansen’s SEC rival, as she trains at Florida, placed 25th in the event at NCAAs, and was just 4th in the event at the Canadian Trials going 4:44.34, but she was pre-selected to the team back in the fall, thanks in part to her 2023 Pan-Am gold medal, and her strong freestyle results at the World University Games last summer. Owner of a personal best of 4:38.45, Brousseau, like Jansen, could find herself in the medal contention.
However, each of them will be reliant upon both Tara Kinder and Aimee Canny having off performances. Kinder of Australia and Canny of South Africa join Jansen in the world rankings this season, with Kinder’s 4:37.72 from the Australian Open (not the tennis one) placing her 17th on the list. At the same time, Canny and her 4:38.09 from the PSS in Indianapolis ranks her two spots ahead of Jansen at 21st. Kinder was a little off that mark at her trials, taking 3rd to both Forrester and Ella Ramsay with her 4:41.16, but should be able to be in the mix for a minor medal. So too is Canny, if she swims it. Canny did not contest the event at her nation’s trials, and neither did Rebecca Meder, for that matter, but both could make an appearance in the event in Glasgow. Canny had a very strong showing in Indianapolis despite taking on a bevy of events, and with the Commonwealth Games a little more spread out, Canny could find herself on the podium. Meder is a little less likely to swim the event. While she finished 9th in the event back in 2022 and swam it at the 2023 Worlds, she did not compete in it in 2024 or 2025 and seems to be favoring the 50 breaststroke, which overlaps with the 400 IM.
The last big name not yet covered in depth is Australia’s Ella Ramsay. The 22-year-old placed 5th in the final of the event at the Paris Olympics and hoped to improve upon that result in Singapore last year, but was a no-show in the prelims. This season, Ramsay was noticeably off her best at Trials, but much of that can be attributed to a recent change in both coaches and training bases. Still, she finished 2nd to Forrester with her 4:39.23, booking her ticket to Glasgow. Owner of a personal best of 4:36.12, Ramsay is right up there in the medal conversation, but she will need to ensure that she makes the most of her breaststroke talents, as she lost two seconds to Forrester on the freestyle alone and gave back over a second to Kinder, who was also off her best.
With Shanahan, Colbert and Meder unlikely to take on the event, the last spot in the final looks to be filled by the young Scot, Evi Mackie. Seventeen-year-old Mackie was selected as the youngest swimmer for her home nation after finishing 3rd in the event at the Aquatics GB Championships back in April. Her bronze medal-winning time of 4:47.87 ranks her 6th among all of Britain over the past 12 months, and this meet could serve as a large stepping stone as she hopes to follow in the footsteps of Katie Shanahan and British record holder Hannah Miley.
SwimSwam’s Picks
Place Name Nation Season Best Lifetime Best 1 Jenna Forrester AUS 4:31.47 4:31.47 2 Amalie Smith ENG 4:35.18 4:35.18 3 Tara Kinder AUS 4:37.72 4:37.14 4 Ella Jansen CAN 4:38.17 4:37.35 5 Aimee Canny RSA 4:38.09 4:38.09 6 Ella Ramsay AUS 4:39.23 4:36.12 7 Julie Brousseau CAN 4:44.34 4:38.45 8 Evi Mackie SCO 4:47.87 4:47.87Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2026 Commonwealth Games Previews: Yellin Timber – Wood & Forrester Looking to Split IM Events
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