Angharad Evans ended a 72-year drought for Scotland with the first victory in the women's 200m breaststroke for the 2026 Commonwealth Games hosts since Eleanor Gordon took gold in 1954.

Evans' 2mins 23.79 victory made her a double champion, after her gold in the 100m breaststroke last Sunday, a bronze in the mixed medley added to the count on Tuesday. Before the night was done, there was silver in the curtain-closing women's medley relay for Evans and her teammates, too, Keeana Macinnes among them after taking silver in the 200m butterfly.

Only three Scottish women had ever claimed two golds at a single Games in any sport until today, Evans the fourth member of the club with Gordon (220y breaststroke and 330y medley relay,Vancouver 1954), Caitlin McClatchey (200m and 400m freestyle Melbourne 2006) and Sheena Sharp (50m Rifle Prone Pairs and  50m Rifle Prone Individual, also 2006). 

With two golds, a silver and a bronze, Evans, coached at the University of Stirling Performance Centre by Bradley Hay and Ben Higson, is also the most decorated Scottish woman at a single Games. She said:

“It's just really surreal.  I didn't go into this meet expecting any sort of medal. I just wanted more experience and I guess to put the demons [of nervousness] to bed and I have done that with the help of some medals. So, extremely proud of myself. I just went in tonight with no pressure. I enjoyed the crowd and I think with that actually came the medal, just taking off all that pressure and saying ‘if it comes to me, it comes to me’. I fought for the medal, I really did. I’m over the moon.”

On her place in the club of other big haulers from Scottish sports history, she said:

"I was completely unaware of that, so yeah, it is such an honour and, you know, I fought for it and I'm happy for it and I think it just shows the training that we've been doing in Stirling.”

Evans led the 200m final from go to gold to stop the clock ahead of South Africa's Kaylene Corbett and Northern Ireland's Ellie McCartney.

Evans went under 1:05 in the 100m and under 2:20 in the 200m at British Championships in April. Her winning times in Glasgow were a fair way off that but Evans noted the big difference in a relaxed focus on the clock. She said trials as "just like, can I go a sub-2.20, can I go a 64 for the first time? But I turn at trials and there's no one within metres of me and I think I'm just completely relaxed there"; and then there's the championship pressure pot during those weeks away where "you sleep less, there's a lot of distraction, the aim is different and there are those demons to get off your back".

• See below for the full interview

The Scotland team, honouring a long tradition of wearing kilts as their team kit on the last day of racing at the Games, Evans was granted a guard of honour on the poolside as the crowd belted out 'Flower of Scotland, her gold a worthy bookend to Duncan Scott’s gold in the 200m medley when racing began last Friday.

Energised by the Tartan Army, Macinnes then broke her own Scottish record to emerge with silver from a last length neck-and-neck tussle with Australian favourites in the 200m butterfly. The gap between gold and bronze was just 0.35sec.

One of a few pace-setters on the last day of action who went for it and held on for gold, Brittany Castelluzzo emerged the champion in 2:06.56, 0.2 ahead of Macinnes, defending champion Lizzy Deckers confined to third:

Evans, Macinnes and the raucous Scottish supporters weren’t done. Macinnes was back in the 'fly fray an hour later to take a second silver with Evans, who split 1:4.8 after a 1:04.5 in the mixed relay for bronze, and their teammates Katie Shanahan (backstroke), and Evelyn Davis (freestyle) behind Australia and ahead of South Africa (fuller report on a separate file later...). The result:

Evans ill now have a few days out of the limelight before assembling with Great Britain teammates and heading to Paris for the European Championships, the national-priority event for 2026. Here's her last chat with British media after her medals ceremony this evening: