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Jamie Holt/Virginia Athletics

Cavaliers with Four Medals through Day Five of the Commonwealth Games

Aimee Canny has three medals (2 silver, 1 bronze) and Jessica Thompson one (bronze) through the first five days of the six-day meet in Glasgow

GLASGOW, Scotland – Two Cavaliers will compete in swimming events at the 2026 Commonwealth Games, to be held July 24-29 in Glasgow, Scotland.

Recent grad Aimee Canny and incoming first-year Jessica Thompson will both be representing South Africa at the international multi-sport event featuring athletes from the British Commonwealth of Nations. The event, held every four years, is the world's second-largest multi-sport event behind the Olympics, with teams from 74 participating nations and territories.

Canny will be competing in the 100m Free, 100m Breast, 200m Breast and 200m IM. 

Thompson will be competing in the 50m Free, 50m Back, 100m Back and 50m Fly.

Morning sessions begin at 5:30 am ET with the evening session starting at 2 pm ET each day.

 

Friday, July 24 Recap

  • Canny and Thompson earned their first medals of the games, grabbing bronze in the 4x100m Free Relay. Canny led off the relay in the night session, with the South African squad placing third. Thompson swam in the morning prelim to also earn a bronze in the event
  • Thompson swam the 50 Fly prelims (26.24) and semis (26.02) to qualify for Saturday's final

Saturday, July 25 Recap

  • Thompson swam in the final of the 50 Fly, just missing the podium with a fourth-place finish (25.92)
  • Thompson swam in the morning prelims of the 100 Back, placing 11th (1:01.54) to make the semis, but scratched it to focus on the 50 Fly final
  • Canny swam the prelims and semis of the 100m Breast. She had the second-fastest time in the semis (1:06.04) to earn a spot in Sunday's final

Sunday, July 26 Recap

  • Canny picked up her second medal of the meet, taking silver in the 100m Breast. She finished with a time of 2:06.19, just 0.12 behind the gold medalist Angharad Evans of Scotland

Monday, July 27 Recap

  • Thompson qualified for the 50m Back final with the fourth-fastest swim in the semifinals (28.54), however she did not swim in the final

Tuesday, July 27 Recap

  • Canny took silver in the 200m IM, breaking her own South African national record with a time of 2:09.37, earning her third medal of the meet. Canny has taken 2.25 seconds off her lifetime best in the last 12 months. She ranks as the No. 2 African swimmer in the event and performance ranks No. 3 all-time 
  • Thompson qualified for the 50m Free final with the 5th fastest time (24.92) in the semifinals