From the Gold Coast to Tokyo: Part One
Of the 53 Scots set to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games, 20 represented Team Scotland at Gold Coast 2018, including 10 medallists. For many, the Commonwealth Games has acted as a springboard in their journey to Olympic selection. In the run up to Tokyo we take a quick look back at their Gold Coast 2018 results and their journey to the Olympic Games, starting in the pool…
Gold Coast 2018: Having made her debut for Team Scotland at Glasgow 2014, she returned for Gold Coast 2018 finishing 6th in both 50m and 100m Backstroke and 5th as part of the 4x100m Medley relay.
Road to Tokyo: Following European Medley Relay bronze in 2018, the 2021 European Championships saw a huge breakthrough performance where she won three gold and one silver. She was the first Scottish woman under the one-minute mark in 100m Backstroke and will make her Olympic debut in Tokyo.
Gold Coast 2018: Lucy first competed for Team Scotland as a 17 year old at Glasgow 2014. Gold Coast 2018 saw her in individual action, reaching the finals of the 50m Backstroke and 200m Freestyle, also securing a 5th place finish in the Medley Relay.
Road to Tokyo: Since Gold Coast Lucy has come into her own, winning 4x200m Freestyle Relay gold at the 2018 European Championships and an incredible four gold medals in the relay events at the same championships in 2021. She lowered the Scottish 100m Freestyle record at the Olympic trials in 2021 and will make her Olympic Games debut in Tokyo.
Gold Coast 2018: Cassie made her Commonwealth Games debut for Team Scotland at Gold Coast 2018, reaching the final and finishing 5th in the 50m Backstroke.
Road to Tokyo: Following Gold Coast, Cassie represented Great Britain at the 2018 European Championships and 2021 has been a stand out year, lowering her personal bests in all three Backstroke events and winning silver in the 200m Backstroke at the European Championships in Budapest. She also swam the heats for the gold medal winning 4x100m Medley Relay team. Tokyo will be her first Olympics.
Gold Coast 2018: Ross announced his arrival on the international stage with a stunning gold in the 200m Breaststroke at Glasgow 2014, setting a Games record in the process. Gold Coast 2018 saw him just miss out on defending his Commonwealth title, closing England’s James Wilby down in the final stages but having to settle for silver.
Road to Tokyo: Following Gold Coast, posted the third-fastest time in the 100m Breaststroke heats at the 2018 European Championships – but the two per nation rule meant he was unable to progress. He narrowly missed out on bronze by finishing fourth in his preferred 200m event. He struggled for form over the next few years and even considered retiring from swimming during the dark days of lockdown in 2020 but has bounced back in style to qualify for his second Olympic Games.
Gold Coast 2018: Winning six medals, Duncan was star of the pool at Gold Coast 2018, becoming Scotland’s most decorated athlete at a single Games and the first Scottish swimmer to win gold in the 100m Freestyle.
Road to Tokyo: A double relay medallist at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, Duncan took home three golds and a silver from the 2018 European Championships before earning his first World Championship medal in an individual event in 2019 by taking bronze in the 200m Freestyle. It was his relay performance, however, that really stood out as he produced the second-fastest relay split of all-time, and fastest in a textile suit, on the last leg of the 4x100m medley to bring the British team home to gold. The European Championships in 2021 saw him claim three silver medals in the 200m Freestyle and both Men’s Freestyle relays.
Gold Coast 2018: James took bronze in the 1m Springboard event at Gold Coast 2018, Scotland’s first Diving medal since James’s grandfather, Sir Peter Heatly, won gold in the 10m Platform in 1958.
Road to Tokyo: Following his Gold Coast success, James has made a habit of winning major championship medals with back-to-back European Championships bronze medals in the 1m Springboard in Glasgow in 2018 and 3m Springboard a year later in Kiev. At the 2021 FINA Diving World Cup held in Japan as an official test event for the Tokyo Olympics, he won silver in the 3m Springboard and will make his Olympic debut in Japan, 73 years after his grandfather competed at his first Olympics.
Gold Coast 2018: Selected for her third Commonwealth Games at the age of just 21, Grace put in a brilliant display in the 1m Springboard to win Scotland’s first ever medal for women’s diving at a Commonwealth Games, and the first Scottish diving gold for 60 years.
Road to Tokyo: 2018 was an incredible year for Grace as, alongside her Commonwealth Games gold, she took 3m Mixed Synchro bronze with Ross Haslam at the FINA Diving World Cup in China and won gold and silver in the 3m and 3m Synchro events respectively at the European Championships in Glasgow. Tokyo will be her second Olympic appearance after becoming the first Brit to make the Women’s 3m Springboard final on her Olympic debut in Rio.