As the last of the home nations to announce their swimming team for the 2026 Commonwealth Games, Wales have confirmed a squad of 16 swimmers and 5 para-swimmers who will make the journey to Glasgow in July. This is how that team appears to have been assembled.

Headlined by Olympic champion Matt Richards and rising star Theodora Taylor, the swimming squad includes six swimmers who made individual nomination standards in the qualifying period. Indeed Taylor had seven events where she did so, while Amy Crowley was the only other woman to gain selection in this phase, while four men made nomination times. The six swimmers are:

• Amy Crowley
• Kyle Booth
• Lewis Fraser
• Matthew Richards
• Theodora Taylor
• Tyler Melbourne-Smith

The next block of selections was made for relays, with a full complement of teams having made the grade. This gave spots to a further ten swimmers, with the various permutations for the medley teams in particular undoubtedly giving the selectors different options. These ten are:

• Alexandra Bastone
• Dan Jones
• Harry Milne
• Jack Knight
• Joshua Inglis
• Kieran Bird
• Medi Harris
• Meghan Higgs
• Rebecca Sutton
• Sophie Davies

We can, of course, expect these swimmers to get individual swims when the meet rolls around.

The para-selection was led by Rhys Darbey who will have high hopes of making the podium in the S14 events in the summer. He’s joined by four others as follows:

• Dylan Broom
• Ela Letton-Jones
• Meghan Willis
• Rhys Darbey
• Rose Williams

Although this marked the official announcement of the Welsh team, the squad has already raced unofficially at the AP Race London International meet in May.

Speaking during that competition, Matt Richards was upbeat about how the team had come together, especially the opportunity to test out relay combinations.

“It’s been brilliant. It’s rare that we get to come together as a Welsh team and put the hat on and race together full stop, let alone for relays” he said. “This has been a great meet for us just to get together, gel the team and get the prep underway for the summer.”

The team spirit was also high. “It’s always great fun, it’s such a tight-knit group. It’s always so small. I mean, it’s way smaller than Scotland, which is way smaller than England, which is way smaller than the Aussies. So it’s a really small group, but it’s one where we’ve all grown up together, we’ve been on the pathway together. So we know each other really well, the athletes and the staff. “

That togetherness will no doubt put the team in good stead for the challenges they will face in Glasgow.