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Australia will be sending a team of 257 athletes to Glasgow, Scotland for the 2026 Commonwealth Games, which will run from July 23 until August 2. It's an opportunity to test themselves on the international stage as we mark two years until the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, backstroke queen Kaylee McKeown will not be competing after being struck down by glandular fever earlier this month, but here are six swimming stars Australians should be keeping front of mind ahead of what promises to be an enthralling 11 days of competition.
Kyle Chalmers
Is there an Australian athlete who lifts more than Chalmers when competing on the world stage? The 100m Olympic champion from Rio is now a veteran of the Dolphins team but you just know he will make a splash at any major international meet he takes part in.
Chalmers once again took out the men's 100m freestyle race at the Australian swimming trials to punch his ticket to Glasgow, what will be the third Commonwealth Games of his career. Across the previous two editions, Chalmers claimed nine medals, including gold in the 200m freestyle in 2018 and the 100m freestyle in 2022.
At last year's world championships in Singapore, Chalmers delivered a monster anchor leg to deliver gold for Australia in the men's 100m relay. Later in the meet he took bronze in the individual event, though his time from the relay swim would have been just 0.02s off another gold medal.
In Glasgow, Chalmers will contest the 100m freestyle and take part in the relays. He initially trained to contest the sprint butterfly races, but elected to instead focus on swimming's blue-riband event.
Meg Harris
The long-time Australian relay specialist proved last year she can compete against the world's best on her own, winning the 50m freestyle at the world championships in a time of 24.02s on the final night of competition.
READ: Harris gold caps monumental eight days for Australia
All signs are pointing to a repeat result for Harris in Glasgow after she dominated the event at the national trials in June with a swim of 24.08s, the quickest anyone in the world had managed to that point of the season. American Gretchen Walsh has since broken the world record with a blistering 23.55s, but of course she won't be a factor at the Commonwealth Games.
Harris also qualified for the 100m freestyle event, alongside Dolphins teammate Mollie O'Callaghan, and will likely feature as the lead-off or anchor swimming in the 4x100m relay. Don't rule her out of making an appearance in the 4x200m relay, either.
Cameron McEvoy
The fastest man in the pool will once again be looking to hold onto that title when he contests the blink-and-you'll-miss-it 50m freestyle in Glasgow.
It's been an extraordinary 24 months for McEvoy. The sprint specialist underwent a complete training transformation that culminated in gold at the Olympic Games in Paris in the one-lap splash-and-dash, before backing up to triumph at the world championships in Singapore last year. Earlier this year, McEvoy clocked a new world record in the event, posting a 20.88s at the China Open.
McEvoy stopped the clock at the Australian trials in a time of 21.32s in the 50m freestyle and will once again be the man to beat in swimming's fastest race.
Mollie O'Callaghan
The last time O'Callaghan featured at the Commonwealth Games, she showed us that the world had a new swimming superstar. In Birmingham four years ago, as an 18-year-old, O'Callaghan won seven medals, including gold in five events.
Since then, she has become an Olympic champion and world champion in the 200m freestyle and boasts the second-quickest time ever in the event, behind only fellow Australian Ariarne Titmus. O'Callaghan is also a two-time world champion in the 100m.
Despite being cautioned against competing at trials due to spinal stress fractures, O'Callaghan took out both the 100m and 200m freestyle races and looms as the favourite for gold in both events. She is also set to compete in the 50m backstroke and could contest the 100m backstroke -- an event she owns the sixth-best time in history in -- following the withdrawal of Dolphins teammate Kaylee McKeown due to glandular fever. However, it would make for an action-packed program.
READ: O'Callaghan becomes a world champion ... again!
In each of her last six major international swim meets, O'Callaghan has won at least three gold medals. You can likely expect more of the same in Glasgow.
Lani Pallister
Katie Ledecky vs. Summer McIntosh. The women's 800m at the world championships in Singapore last August was billed as the race of the meet, but few outside coach Dean Boxall had put Pallister's name into gold medal contention.
The Australian stunned the world over 16 laps, going toe-to-toe with two of swimming's biggest names, ultimately splitting the pair to take a stunning silver medal and prove she will be a threat come the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in two years time. Before then, of course, are the Commonwealth Games.
Pallister enjoyed an impressive Australian trials earlier in the year, winning the 400m, 800m, and 1500m events all in impressive times. She will contest all three races in Glasgow, as well as feature in the relays for Australia.
Sam Short
As dominant as O'Callaghan and Pallister were at trials last month, no Australian enjoyed a better week than Short, who became the first man in 20 years to triumph in the 200m, 400m, 800m, and 1500m.
The uber-talented middle-distance swimmer has had a rough go of it at major international meets of late. Short was struck down with a bout of gastroenteritis during the 2024 Paris Olympics and then was forced to miss the hotly-contested 800m final at the 2025 world championships due to food poisoning.
Prior to those events, however, Short had announced himself to the world by finishing on the podium in his three races at the 2023 world championships in Fukuoka, including a stunning victory in the 400m.
With five events on his bumper Glasgow program -- the four individual freestyle races plus the 200m relay -- expect to see plenty of Short over the next few weeks.
