Angharad Evans joins elite band of Scottish swimmers as England toppled in medal table
Switch to Stirling pays off with more gold medals
Four years after quitting the sport, Scotland’s Angharad Evans is a double Commonwealth Games champion after adding the 200 metres breaststroke crown to the 100m title she won on Sunday.
Her victory provided a golden finish to the Commonwealth Games swimming for the host nation, who have enjoyed a profitable six days in the Tollcross pool.
Their haul of 12 medals comprises five gold, five silver and two bronze and the swim team are Scotland’s most successful sport so far at Glasgow 2026.
Evans proved a popular winner and was cheered to the rafters by a passionate home support as she joined an elite band of Scottish swimmers who have won two gold medals at a single Commonwealth Games.
The University of Stirling athlete is in good company alongside Elenor Gordon (Vancouver 1954), David Wilkie (Christchurch 1974), Gregor Tait (Melbourne 2006), David Carry and Caitlin McClatchey (both Melbourne 2006) and Duncan Scott (Birmingham 2022).
In emulating McClatchey, Evans has become the first woman in 20 years to win two individual swimming golds for Scotland at a Commie Games.
“I was completely unaware of that,” she said. “It is such an honour and I fought for it and I'm happy for it and I think it just shows the training that we've been doing in Stirling.”
Evans returned to the pool two hours later to help power Scotland to a relay silver in the 4x100m medley alongside Katie Shanahan, Keanna Macinnes and Evie Davis. Evans also won a bronze on Tuesday as part of the mixed 4x100m medley relay team.
Stirling, and her coaches Brad Hay and Ben Higson, have played a central role in the Evans success story
But it could all have been so different for the 23-year-old with the Welsh name who was born in Cambridge but has made her home in Scotland. A stint in the United States at the University of Georgia proved a miserable experience for Evans, who left after 18 months and returned home. She quit swimming but was approached by Hay who persuaded her to give Stirling a try. She rediscovered her love of the sport at the university and has since flourished.
She said she had exceeded all expectations at these Games.
“It's just really surreal,” she said. “You know, I didn't go into this meet expecting any sort of medal. I just wanted more experience and I guess to put the demons to bed and I have done that with the help of some medals. So, extremely proud of myself.”
The demons she refers to are disappointments at last year’s world championships in Singapore but they are all behind her now. Evans says she is learning how to handle the pressure.
“I weirdly did feel confident,” she said. “In my hotel room, I just disassociated the idea of a medal and I think that's because I was so over the moon with a gold medal and a bronze medal [from earlier in the meet].
“When I think about putting pressure on myself to medal the unknown scares me and I can only do what I can do. I can't control what other swimmers do. So, I just went in tonight with no pressure. I enjoyed the crowd and I think with that actually came the medal. But I fought for the medal, I really did.”
‘I felt like I was feeling everyone’s pain’
Evans, who took the lead during the second length, had to hold off a late challenge from South Africa’s Kaylene Corbett but she had enough in the tank to win in a time of 2min 23.79sec, 0.67 of a second faster than Corbett who had to settle for silver. Bronze went to Ellie McCartney of Northern Ireland.
“That hurt,” admitted Evans. “It was very tough. I was numb. I felt everything. I felt like I was feeling everyone’s pain. These are big stepping stones forward for me.”
She said her experience in America made her appreciate what she’s got at Stirling all the more.
“It's really opened my eyes to how lucky I am to be at Stirling, and to have the coaches that I have because it was a completely different story in America. I wasn't just an unhappy athlete, I was an unhappy person and that just showed in the decisions that I was making and I stopped training and obviously ended up quitting the sport."
She reckons she was away from swimming for between six and eight months.
“I thought that was me done but I found my love for the sport again and moved to Stirling purely to enjoy the sport and Brad asked me in a meeting about potentially moving to Stirling what my goal was for the sport and I said, ‘maybe to make an international meet one day’. And now I'm standing here with two gold medals at the Commonwealth Games representing Scotland and also Stirling and Bradley Hay and Ben Higson who coach me every day.”
The six days of competition at Tollcross have been a tremendous spectacle and while Australia have dominated with a record 37 gold medals, Scotland have punched above their weight and they finished strongly, third in the medals table and above England. As well as Evans’ gold and the relay silver on the final day, there was a silver for Macinnes in the 200m butterfly final and a bronze for Toni Shaw in the 100m freestyle S9.
For Edinburgh swimmer Macinnes, it was her second silver of the Games after she also finished second in the 100m butterfly. Team-mate Ciara Schlosshan put in a big push but had to settle for fourth as Brittany Castelluzzo took gold and another Australian, Lizzy Dekkers, was third.
Duncan Scott could not add to his record haul of Commonwealth Games medals as Scotland’s men’s 4x100m relay team finished fifth. But it was the Alloa swimmer who got the ball rolling with a gold on the opening day and also added a bronze in the mixed 4x100m medley relay. If the first night belonged to Scott, the finale was all about Evans.
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