Commonwealth Games 2026 swimming: Australia shatters all-time gold medal report in dominant Glasgow marketing campaign

Scroll down for a whole Commonwealth Games medal tally

Glasgow: Kai Taylor’s beautiful 200-metre freestyle victory from an outdoor lane in entrance of his well-known swimming mum Hayley Lewis helped Australia shatter its all-time swimming gold medal report from a single Commonwealth Games.

The medal rush meant the Dolphins banked greater than $1.2 million in prizemoney from billionaire Gina Rinehart to cap their large marketing campaign.

As Meg Harris collected her fifth and sixth gold medals of the Games to affix Susie O’Neill (1998), Ian Thorpe (2002) and Emma McKeon (2022) as essentially the most embellished Australian swimmer at a single Commonwealth Games, the Dolphins had been on fireplace as soon as once more on the ultimate night time of competitors.

Australia completed the six-day meet with an astonishing 37 gold medals from 56 pool occasions, alongside 16 silver and 23 bronze, comfortably forward of South Africa (six gold), Scotland (5) and England (4).

Kyle Chalmers and Ben Armbruster couldn’t be separated after the semi-finals of the lads’s 50m butterfly on Tuesday and remarkably, they dead-heated once more within the ultimate to share gold on Thursday morning (AEST), whereas Cam McEvoy claimed bronze. Harris (50m freestyle), Lakeisha Patterson (100m freestyle S9), Brittany Castelluzzo (200m butterfly) and Sam Short (1500m freestyle) additionally struck gold as Australia’s extraordinary week rolled on in opposition to hapless opponents whose depth simply wasn’t as much as commonplace.

Short matched Lani Pallister’s haul of three particular person gold medals, whereas Chalmers equalled Ian Thorpe’s Commonwealth Games tally of 10 gold medals after prevailing equal winner of an occasion he doesn’t specialize in. The Dolphins went 1-2-3 within the girls’s 50m freestyle and males’s 50m butterfly in consecutive races, whereas Shayna Jack broke down in tears after her bronze medal within the one-lap sprint – her ultimate race as an Australian consultant.

Australia’s girls’s and males’s 4x100m medley relay groups then accomplished an unprecedented clear sweep of the relay occasions, capping a marketing campaign that exceeded even the Dolphins’ personal expectations given the absence of Kaylee McKeown and an underdone Mollie O’Callaghan, who battled a again damage all through the meet.

But the defining second of the night time belonged to Taylor. Swimming from lane one, the 22-year-old blasted by way of the opening two laps underneath world-record tempo in audacious style earlier than hanging on for the largest victory of his profession, lastly stepping out of the appreciable shadow forged by his well-known mom.

Lewis, a seven-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist, pulled off a well-known victory in 1991, 13 years earlier than Kai was born, within the 200m freestyle on the world championships in Perth. She turned the primary Australian to win a world title since 1978 when she stormed dwelling from lane eight. What is it concerning the household and out of doors lanes?

It was the same story at Australia’s swimming trials in 2023 when Taylor received from lane eight to qualify for his maiden Australian staff, prompting a viral celebration from Lewis within the stands. While the response was barely extra restrained this time, it was no much less emotional as Lewis was overjoyed and Taylor’s coach Dean Boxall saved his largest celebration of the week for final.

Lewis received the identical occasion on the 1990 Commonwealth Games.

“Growing up, I was trying to make a name for myself,” Taylor stated. “I’m super stoked to be making a name for myself and getting my own individual medals now.

“If you’ve got a lane, you’ve got a chance. I backed my training and just thought, ‘you know what, I’m just not going to have any regrets’. I don’t want to look back and think, ‘oh, maybe I could have gone out harder’. If I went out too hard and died, then at least I gave it a shot.

“It’s a dream come true. Mum was just so happy for me. She sees all the sacrifices I’ve put in, all the hard work. She knows what it’s like to be up there, and I think to see me finally achieve that exactly like her, she’s just so proud of me.”

There had been touching scenes within the blended zone afterwards when Boxall, not often seen lingering across the media space, marched over to offer Taylor a giant hug. He couldn’t be prouder of rising star, who he coaches at St Peters Western in Brisbane.

Asked for a quote, Boxall politely declined, earlier than reappearing 10 seconds later and telling the media: “Like mother, like son!”

If solely Taylor’s father, Greg, may have been there to witness the exhilarating end result. On the day his son received his maiden particular person Commonwealth Games gold medal, Greg was at a Glasgow lodge nursing an injured knee. He watched the race on tv earlier than Lewis broke the information to her son after the medal ceremony.

“I thought he was here,” Taylor stated. “I’m pretty devastated he couldn’t be here. It’s a little bit upsetting. I know he would have been watching from back home. I think he’ll be pretty devastated that he couldn’t be here. I asked mum, ‘Where’s Dad?’”

Rinehart’s medal incentive scheme remained a speaking level all through the week, though swimmers had been directed by Commonwealth Games Australia to not publicly focus on the funds.

Pallister was the largest monetary winner, gathering $80,000, forward of Jenna Forrester ($70,000), Alex Perkins ($70,000), Short ($65,000) and Harris ($60,000) from a complete bonus pool of $1,272,500 that might be distributed within the coming days.

“I’ll feel pretty good when it hits my bank account,” Short stated after his 1500m freestyle victory over Ireland’s Daniel Wiffen by 2.59 seconds. “That’s why I didn’t want to give up there [at the end of the race]. A bit of cash on the line.

“I’ll try and not spend it on something dumb.”

Chalmers added: “I am obviously super grateful that we are able to receive that. It definitely is back of mind when you’re racing and performing, especially as an older athlete. I’ve got a mortgage and a young family, so that’ll go towards my mortgage repayments and maybe buy Astrid [his daughter] some one-year-old clothing.”

When requested if he was shocked that athletes weren’t meant to, or allowed, to thank Rinehart, Chalmers stated: “I’m not going to comment on that”.

Harris, who was once more most popular forward of O’Callaghan within the relay, stated of her historic haul: “It’s definitely special. Most of them were in relays, so I wouldn’t have been there without a team effort.

“I’m cooked.”

Get round our Commonwealth Games protection

Follow our protection of the Commonwealth Games with reside blogs protecting each second of the motion from 6pm AEST day by day.

News, outcomes and skilled evaluation from the weekend of sport are despatched each Monday. Sign up for our Sport e-newsletter.