Swimming and Gymnastics highlight day 2 at the Commonwealth games.

After day 1 saw the first ten gold medals handed out, day 2 will see another 9 gold medals up for grabs, with another 8 in the pool and the women's team event in the gymnasium. The spotlight turns to both Tollcross and the Glasgow International Arena as home fans prepare for another packed day of events.

Swimming and Para Swimming

Medal events: Men's 400m Freestyle Final, Women's 200m Freestyle Final, Men's 50m Backstroke Final, Women's 50m Butterfly Final, Women's S14 200m Freestyle Final, Men's S14 200m Freestyle Final, Men's 100m Breaststroke Final, Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Relay Final.

The highlight of the medal races in the pool today is the men's 100m breaststroke, headlined by Triple Olympic champion Adam Ramsay-Peaty (ENG). He is the favourite but will be pushed by Sam Williamson (AUS) and the up-and-coming star of British breaststroke, Filip Nowacki (JER), who, should Ramsay-Peaty encounter any minor issues, have the speed to keep up and beat him. Both 50m events also both promise to be very close affairs; in particular, the men's 50m Backstroke promises to have at least five or six guys in it who will be expecting to come home with a medal, headlined by South Africa's Pieter Coetze who comes in as the favourite and has been the fastest man on the entry list but his teammate Ruard Van Renen and England's Ollie Morgan can and will push him close as is always the case in 50m the start is pivotal so if anyone of these guys plus the likes of Cameron Brooker (ENG), Jack Skerry (ENG) and the Aussie Pair of Henry Allen and Isaac Cooper get the start then they all possess the speed to potentially win this race.

The Women's 50m Butterfly is much of the same, headlined by joint favourites Alex Perkins (AUS) and Erin Gallagher (RSA), both of whom went faster in the heats than the winning time four years ago in Birmingham these two should both feature amongst the medals but as I said earlier its only 50m if someone nails the start and underwater portion of the race anyone can win. Other names that should feature in the race for medals are Jessica Thompson (RSA), Caitlin de Lange (RSA), Eva Okaro (ENG) and Kylie Masse (CAN). The men's 400m freestyle should be won by one of the two Aussies in Sam Short or Elijah Winnington, who finished 4th and 2nd in this event in Paris in 2024, and the rest of the competition are either coming down in distance or going up in distance. Daniel Wiffen (NIR) is more proficient over 800m and 1500 and James Guy (ENG) is better over 100m or 200m. Lewis Clareburt is the biggest wildcard in this event as he is a great 400m IM swimmer but doesn't do this event that often, so we don't know how quick he can go in this event.

The women's 200m freestyle should also be an Aussie battle at the front with Olympic gold medalist in this event Mollie O'Callaghan, Lani Pallister and Meg Harris expected to sweep this podium; the main threat to these three is posed by the English pair of Freya Colbert and Freya Anderson who will be coming on strong at the end but will need an off day from one of the Australians for them to claim a medal. The Mixed 4x100m relay will be interesting, particularly if a team or two stray away from the normal strategy of the two men on legs one and two and the two women on the final two legs, but again this event should be won by Australia; the depth they have is so much greater than all the other nations at the championships they have at least ten people who could be entered in this and they would still be favourites the real intrigue on paper is the battle for silver and bronze which should be close fought between England, Canada, Scotland and South Africa

The two Para finals promise to be very close, with the men's S14 200m freestyle final featuring the three medalists from Paris 2024. This is the only swimming event at the Commonwealths where all three medalists from Paris are going to be in the pool together again. Gold Medalist from Paris William Ellard (ENG) favourite to win again, and the silver and bronze should be close-fought again between Nicolas Bennett (CAN) and Jack Ireland (AUS), with Ireland keen to upgrade his Olympic gold into Silver in Glasgow. The Women's S14 200m freestyle should also be won by the English, with the breakout British star of the 2024 Paralympics in Poppy Maskill the heavy favourite to win this event again as she did in Paris; she is backed up in the English team by Paris bronze medalist Louise Fiddes and Georgia Sheffield in what could be a podium sweep for the English but Australian duo of Madeleine McTernan and Ruby Storm will have something to say about that.

Gymnastics

Medal Events: Women's team final

This event should be close, with it really coming down to five teams fighting for three medals. The defending champions, England are probably the very slight favourites, led by Abigail Martin, who is fresh off a floor bronze at the world championships. Around her is a very solid team, with no weak links; they might not have the highest score on every apparatus, but they should be right at the top on vault and floor and won't lose points on the other apparatus. Australia will be right with them, led by eight-time Commonwealth Games medalist Georgia Goodwin; they will be aiming to go one better than four years ago, upgrading their silver to gold. If Australia are to win, they need Ruby Pass to execute her massive floor and vault routines. This should be the battle for gold, but as women's gymnastics includes the notoriously unpredictable beam, it's far less certain than the men's yesterday; it only takes one fall on beam and Wales is led by world floor silver medalist Ruby Evans, Canada led by four-time Olympian and ten times commonwealth medalist Ellie Black and Scotland who have the home advantage but will need their very young team to produce personal bests if they're to feature in the medals.

Daniel Mott