Wales claims two swimming medals on dramatic night

Wales claimed two more Commonwealth Games medals in the pool on July 25, 2026, with Para-swimmer Rhys Darbey and the 4x100m mixed freestyle relay squad winning bronze in Glasgow. Darbey, the 19-year-old from Deeside, initially finished fourth in the men's S14 200m freestyle final after being edged out by teammate and roommate Dylan Broom. However, Broom was disqualified for "initiating a start early," which allowed Darbey to be promoted to third position.

Olympic champion Matt Richards won the first Commonwealth Games medal of his career as part of the relay squad alongside Dan Jones, Rebecca Sutton, and Theodora Taylor. Darbey and the relay squad followed fellow Welsh Para-swimmer Ela Letton-Jones onto the podium after she claimed silver on the opening night, increasing Team Wales' medal tally to three.

Richards aimed for his first Commonwealth medal to complete his collection of Olympic, world, and European podium positions, following four fourth places in Birmingham in 2022. Wales fielded an entirely different quartet in the pool for the final after Kieran Bird, Harry Milne, Medi Harris, and Meghan Higgs had qualified fourth fastest in the heats. Sutton and Taylor had advanced to their respective individual semi-finals in the 100m backstroke and 100m breaststroke but both withdrew to focus completely on the relay event. This strategy proved effective, as Taylor, 17, propelled Wales from fifth to third place with an impressive final leg.

Earlier, Rose Williams finished fourth in the women’s S14 200m freestyle final, which includes swimmers with intellectual impairments. Tyler Melbourne-Smith finished sixth in the 400m freestyle final, while Lewis Fraser qualified for the 100m butterfly final scheduled for Sunday evening.