Tom Dean, who became the first Home Nations athlete to win seven medals at a single Commonwealth Games at the Birmingham 2022 edition, will seek to add to his total part of England’s team at the Glasgow 2026 Games, where swimming starts tomorrow.
He is one of a 42-strong England team named for the competition at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre from July 24 to 29, after which many of the leading performers will travel to Paris for the European Aquatics Championships, where swimming will run from August 10 to 16.
All the Great Britain team-mates with whom Dean won men’s 4x200m freestyle Olympic and world gold in 2024 and 2025 respectively will also be at the latest Commonwealth Games.
Of his Paris 2024 colleagues, James Guy will also race for England, Duncan Scott will represent Scotland, Matt Richards is picked by Wales and Jack McMillan has been named by Northern Ireland. Evan Jones, who teamed with Guy, McMillan and Dean to win world gold last year in Singapore, is in the Scottish team.
England also include multiple world and Olympic champion Adam Peaty. The 31-year-old looking for a fourth straight Commonwealth title 12 years after his international debut at the Glasgow 2014 Games.
Peaty current stands top of the Commonwealth 100m breaststroke standings ahead of Canada’s Oliver Dawson and his 18-year-old England team-mate Filip Nowacki, who will be seeking Jersey’s first Commonwealth medal for 36 years.
Also in the Northern Ireland selection is the Paris 2024 800m freestyle champion Daniel Wiffen.
“This year I’ve decided to double in both the Commonwealths and the Europeans because I need to win both of them to complete the competitions that I can win in my career,” Wiffen told European Aquatics last month.
“For me the Commonwealths are important because it’s my only opportunity to race for Northern Ireland, which is where I grew up and learned to swim. So that’s important as I get to bring something back for the place that basically taught me everything.”
Freya Colbert heads to her second Games for England, fresh from breaking her own British record in the 200m Freestyle at the Aquatics GB Championships.
Scotland’s team also includes World Championship silver medallist Angharad Evans and Archie Goodburn, who is competing at elite level despite having brain cancer.
Mike Rowbottom for European Aquatics
