Cam Brooker helps England win relay silver as University of Bath swimmers impress on Day 1 of Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games
Swimmer Cam Brooker became the first University of Bath-based athlete to win a medal at Glasgow 2026 as he helped Team England secure men’s 4x100m freestyle relay silver on Day 1 of the Commonwealth Games.
The Aquatics GB Bath Performance Centre swimmer produced a brilliant swim in the heats, maintaining England’s hold on second spot with a split time of 48.34 as the quartet – anchored by former Bath Sporting Scholar Tom Dean – eased to qualification.
England changed the line-up for the final, with former Bath swimmers James Guy and Jacob Whittle coming into the quartet, and they again finished runners-up to Australia, meaning Brooker and his team-mates collected a silver medal at the start of a busy week of competition at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre.
Bill Whiteley Sporting Scholar Matthew Ward raced for Scotland in the final, the host nation finishing just outside the medals in fourth.
Ward and Brooker, who graduated from Bath with a First Class Honours in Mechanical Engineering this summer, also qualified for their first individual finals after progressing through the 50m backstroke heats and semi-finals.
They are joined in Saturday’s medal showdown (7.49pm) by training partner and US Foundation Scholar Jack Skerry, representing England. The Bath trio were separated by just three-hundredths of a second in the semi-finals as Brooker clocked 24.92, Skerry 24.94 and Ward 24.95.
Day 1 also saw Dean win 200m individual medley bronze behind home favourite Duncan Scott.
Bath Performance Centre swimmer Jacob Peters gets his third Commonwealth Games under way on Saturday, targeting a place in the 50m butterfly final. He is in Heat 4 alongside Advanced Machine Learning student Isaac Dodds, who trains with the University of Bath Swimming Club and is representing Jersey.
Follow the progress of University of Bath-associated athletes at the Commonwealth Games by visiting teambath.com/Glasgow-2026.
Picture credit: Team England/Imagecomms.
