With a home Games in Glasgow, selection for Team Scotland carries extra weight, as swimmers chase the chance to represent their country in front of a home crowd. This year Scotland have gone with a streamlined two step process that focusses on just the one selection opportunity at the Aquatics GB championships and is similar in many ways to what Team England have put in place. Here’s how that process unfolds.
Step 1: Preselection
The policy includes a preselection provision which is somewhat nebulous, but allowed the Scottish national Coach to pick swimmers based on their performances at the 2025 World Championships. On this basis, Duncan Scott was named as the first swimmer to the team in November 2025 with Angharad Evans following in January 2026. It’s worth noting that this duo are on the team only and are not tied to specific events as yet.
With a maximum team size of 25 that leaves 23 spots to be decided at the selection meet.
Step 2: Meet the Minimum Selection Standards in London
To put themselves in the selection conversation, swimmers must make the published nomination standard times listed below in London. This is the only meet that will be considered but any swim in London can be used, not just the A finals.
There is some nuance here though. with the policy favouring relay qualification for the men’s 4×200 freestyle and the two medley relays over individual nominations. Hence the quartets for those relays will be selected if they make the times, with no takeover tolerances included, before any individuals and the remaining relays are considered. Scottish Swimming clearly feel that those three teams give them the best hope of team medals and are making sure they get the teams qualified. Conversely there is no direct selection for mixed relays which will be made up from the selected team in due course.
| Event | Male Qualifying Time | Female Qualifying Time |
|---|---|---|
| 50m Freestyle | 0:22.20 | 0:25.24 |
| 100m Freestyle | 0:48.54 | 0:54.71 |
| 200m Freestyle | 1:47.76 | 1:58.46 |
| 400m Freestyle | 3:49.73 | 4:11.37 |
| 800m Freestyle | 8:00.13 | 8:39.99 |
| 1500m Freestyle | 15:25.85 | 16:37.12 |
| 50m Backstroke | 0:25.30 | 0:28.38 |
| 100m Backstroke | 0:54.35 | 1:01.03 |
| 200m Backstroke | 1:59.23 | 2:12.20 |
| 50m Breaststroke | 0:27.82 | 0:31.16 |
| 100m Breaststroke | 1:01.04 | 1:07.67 |
| 200m Breaststroke | 2:13.63 | 2:26.54 |
| 50m Butterfly | 0:23.55 | 0:26.61 |
| 100m Butterfly | 0:52.16 | 0:58.86 |
| 200m Butterfly | 1:58.71 | 2:11.88 |
| 200m Individual Medley | 2:00.41 | 2:12.94 |
| 400m Individual Medley | 4:18.88 | 4:44.16 |
| 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay | 3:18.98 | 3:42.92 |
| 4 x 200m Freestyle Relay | 7:18.46 | 8:04.55 |
| 4 x 100m Medley Relay | 3:39.09 | 4:05.06 |
| Mixed 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay | n/a | |
| Mixed 4 x 100m Medley Relay | n/a |
Everyone else who makes a nomination time is then ranked based on percentage inside the nomination standard, but even then are in theory reliant on the discretion of the national Coach who finalises the team based on criteria including:
- The percentage rankings
- Performances in the finals in London
- Commonwealth rankings and medal potential
- The number of qualifying events for a given swimmer
- Relay contributions (this includes the possibility of adding relay alternates)
- Future potential
In reality the percentages are likely to carry most weight and those at the upper end of that list should be fairly sure of their places.
Para-swimming
As the selection is driven by World Para-Swimming and the Commonwealth Games Federation, para selection matches the procedure given for England.
Last time out in Glasgow, 12 years ago, Scotland secured 10 medals, including three gold, at Tollcross. They will be hoping this policy allows them to improve that tally and perhaps even better the record total of 12 secured four years ago.