2026 Commonwealth Games Previews: Angharad Evans Leads Breaststroke Field ...Middle East

By Madeline Folsom on SwimSwam

2026 Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games has a chance to be one of the strongest women’s breaststroke meets in the world this season, specifically in the 200. A number of top breaststrokers have seen significant improvements throughout the season, including Scotland’s Angharad Evans.

By the Numbers: Women’s 50 Breaststroke

The women’s 50 breaststroke is the only event where the 2022 gold medalist is returning for 2026. South Africa’s Lara van Niekerk is the Commonwealth record holder and the Commonwealth Games record holder with the 29.73 she swam to win the event in 2022, just one hundredth off her Commonwealth record of 29.72.

Over the last few years, Van Niekerk has not seen quite the same level of success in the event, and she has not been back under 30 seconds since the 2023 World Championships. This season, her season best sits at 30.26 from the Dubai Open Championships in February, which is the fastest in the field. She will be one of the favorites for the gold medal, especially with Angharad Evans electing not to swim it.

Canada’s Sophie Angus had a massive performance in the event at the 2026 Canadian Trials, swimming 30.28 in the prelims of the 50 breaststroke, putting the Canadian record of 30.23 on notice. She will be hunting that record and perhaps a gold medal in the event this week.

There are a few other athletes who have been under 31 seconds this season. Australian teenager Sienna Toohey has seen a huge surge over the last year, and she only seems to be improving. At the Australian Age Championships, she dropped almost two tenths to swim 30.39, winning the event and inching ever closer to the Australian record of 30.05, set at the Commonwealth Games in July of 2022.

After Toohey, England has two athletes who have also been under 31 seconds. Imogen Clark is coming in at 30.69 at the GB Swimming Championships in April. Her lifetime best stands at 30.02 from the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Gabrielle Idle-Beavers is seeded at 30.82, which she also swam at the GB Swimming Championships. This was a lifetime best for her, marking her first time under 30 seconds in the event. She has seen massive improvement this season, coming in at 31.63 from the 2025 Championships.

South Africa’s Kaylene Corbett (31.07) and Rebecca Meder (31.52), Cook Islands’ Lanihei Connolly (31.41), and Australia’s Tara Kinder (31.52) will be battling for the other finals positions.

By the Numbers: Women’s 100 Breaststroke

The 100 breaststroke has Scotland’s Angharad Evans as the top seed, and she is the heavy favorite to walk home with the gold medal. She had a strong year last year, setting one of the top times in the world at British Trials of 1:05.37. At Worlds, she finished 18th in prelims and failed to qualify for the semifinal. At the 2026 GB Swimming Championships, Evans broke 1:05 for the first time, swimming 1:04.96 to become the 10th fastest performer all-time in the event.

If she can match this performance later this week, nobody will be able to challenge her for the gold.

The Aussies are looking to pick up the other two medals, with Sienna Toohey as the only other person who has been under 1:06 this season. She comes into the meet with a lifetime best of 1:05.97 to become the 3rd-fastest Australian in history.

Ella Ramsay is seeded in 1:06.70 she swam at the Australian Trials in June, which was also her lifetime best in the event. Tara Kinder will be 3rd Aussie in the event, and her lifetime best stands at 1:07.42 which she swam at the NSW State Open Championships in March of 2025.

Lanihei Connolly is another potential medalist with the 1:07.40 she swam last year at the World Championships to set a new National Record.

South Africa will have Kaylene Corbett (1:07.65), and Rebecca Meder (1:07.50) as their top swimmers who will also be trying to earn their way into the final. Corbett’s lifetime best stands at 1:06.88 from the 2023 World University Games.

England’s Idle-Beavers also had a massive improvement in this event this season, and is seeded in 1:07.69, which she swam at the GB Swimming Championships in April. She came into the season at 1:10.02 from July of 2025. She will likely final if she can match that swim.

By the Numbers: Women’s 200 Breaststroke

Just like in the 100, Evans is the clear choice for the top spot in the women’s 200 breaststroke. In April at the same British Championships, Evans shattered the British record with a 2:19.70 in the event, taking more than a second off Molly Renshaw’s 2:20.89 record, and moving up to 9th all-time in the event.

After Evans, there is a pack of athletes who will be challenging for the silver medal, all in the 2:23 range. Kaylene Corbett is the only returning medalist in the event from 2022, having won the bronze medal in 2:23.67. This was about a second off her lifetime best of 2:22.06 from the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Her season best stands at 2:23.72 from the South African Nationals in April, where she won the silver medal to finish just behind Aimee Canny’s 2:23.61 in 1st.

Canny is coming off a very strong season at the University of Virginia where she dropped three-and-a-half seconds in the SCY event over the course of the season. She might have a big drop in her with the 2:23.61 she swam at South African Nationals coming in as her lifetime best in the event.

England’s Abbie Wood is seeded in 2:23.76, which she swam in March. Her lifetime best stands at 2:21.69 from the British Swimming Trials in 2021. Her swim at the Edinburgh Swim Meet in March was the fastest she has swum since 2021.

Finally, Australia has Ella Ramsay, who is seeded in 2:23.92 and Tara Kinder in 2:24.19. Ramsay’s best is 2:22.87 from the 2024 Australian Trials, but she never swims as fast outside of that meet with all three of her fastest times in history coming from the 2024, 2025, and 2026 Trials. Kinder has been 2:23.84, which she swam at the NSW Open Championships in March of 2025.

Canada’s Sophie Angus (2:24.84) and Sienna Toohey (2:25.24) will likely challenge for the other two finals spots, though they would need significant drops if they want to earn a medal.

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