| Hosts: Birmingham Dates: 28 July to 8 August |
| Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV with extra streams on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, BBC Sport website and BBC Sport mobile app |
In a competition which often struggles for relevance next to the Olympics and World Championships, the pool rivalry between Duncan Scott and Tom Dean could be something to savour at the Commonwealth Games.
At the Olympics last summer, they became the first British pair to finish on an Olympic swimming podium in more than 100 years in the 200m freestyle, with Dean claiming gold by 0.04 seconds from his team-mate.
They will potentially go head-to-head six times, with Scott competing for Scotland and Dean racing for England in Birmingham. Rivals. But friends too.
“We’re just good mates – there’s nothing else to it,” Scott says. “It’s a question we get asked a lot and we’re both just like: ‘Yeah we’re just mates – should we be more than that? Are you guys wanting it to be something else?'”
Scott’s wit is as sharp as his performances have been in the last 12 months.
A 200m freestyle silver was one of four Olympic medals secured in Tokyo, a British record for one Games. He swam a personal best in every final, but came away without an individual gold.
His determination to change that in 2024 is clear – not that he cares much about the adulation or profile that comes with glory.
“I’ve got my own goals and expectations and whether people rate me or don’t rate me, I couldn’t care less,” Scott says.
“There’s a little bit of publicity around the Olympics and it’s great the Commonwealth Games is keeping the media attention in the sport but it’s so different compared with if I was a footballer.
“The day in, day out. If they perform badly it’s all over the papers and so on. But for me I quite like just shutting it all out to be honest. I couldn’t care less what everyone’s writing about me – or not.”
While happy to just get on with the job, it is possible to detect Scott’s frustration at the lack of recognition in the UK for elite swimmers.
He believes meet organisers need to cut ticket prices to attract more fans and, though he and other swimmers were recognised in the Queen’s New Year Honours List with an MBE, he was left astonished at one omission.
“I just don’t understand why [Adam] Peaty’s not been knighted,” he says, bemused. “I don’t know who decides it. But for me as a sports fan and a swimmer and comparing him to other people who have been knighted… that’s shocking.
“Back-to-back Olympian, unbeaten in Olympic cycles, he’s won everything he could win, world-record holder. Sixteen European golds. Look at the other people who have been knighted. I don’t know, unbelievable.”
Disappointingly Scott, who starts his Games on Saturday, had to withdraw from June’s World Championships – his primary focus of the year – after a slow recovery from a bout of Covid-19.
As a result he has barely raced since April, and so it’s hard for him to gauge his form.
“I really struggled initially,” he says, “I was like: ‘Why am I not getting any better?’ But weeks go by and it just clicks. It was just getting used to the fact I can’t speed this up. It’s going to happen of its own accord.
“I’m all good now. I’m looking forward to it and I don’t think it’s going to be too much of a hindrance.”
Now, Birmingham is the focus. It was the Commonwealth Games four years ago when he announced himself by becoming the first Scot to win six medals in one Games – including a sensational gold in the 100m freestyle.
Scott feels it will be difficult to match that given the competitiveness of the relays in particular, and he has not raced in the 100m free much recently, the event in which he stunned home favourite and then Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers on the Gold Coast.
“I’m really good friends with Kyle and I’ve been giving him a little bit of stick about how I’m the defending champion,” Scott laughs. “But his PB is almost a second quicker than mine now so I’m sure I’ll be kept quiet there…
“The last time, most medals ever at a single Games… I didn’t know it was a thing. Same with the Olympics; I didn’t know that [most medals by a British athlete] was a thing until after the relay.
“I wouldn’t say that’s a lack of knowledge because it’s probably just not something I’d ever searched at. It’s just in my sport that’s not something you particularly aim for or try to achieve.
“I don’t know what the overall number is for most in Team Scotland. But that’s not something I’ll be thinking about. I’ve got individual goals that I want to try to achieve.”
