At the midway point of the Olympic cycle, there is plenty on the line in 2026 in the pool, with the Aquatics GB Swimming Championships highlighting the best swimmers targeting Los Angeles.
Adam Peaty and Duncan Scott lead a star-studded collection of swimmers heading to the London Aquatics Centre this week.
And with places at the Commonwealth Games and European Championships up for grabs, there will be no shortage of interest.
Peaty up against the next generation of breaststroke stars
Adam Peaty has returned from his post-Olympic swimming break, getting back into competitive action at the end of 2025.
The triple Olympic gold medallist has set his sights on a fourth Games in Los Angeles, with the addition of the 50m breaststroke to the programme creating an even greater incentive for him to carry on.
In London, he will have the chance to book a place at Glasgow 2026, 12 years after he announced himself to the world at the Commonwealth Games in the same city.
But he faces plenty of competition in the breaststroke events, with a recent fourth place at the Edinburgh International Swim Meet, where he was beaten in the 100m by teenagers Filip Nowacki, the double world junior champion, and Max Morgan.
Evans looking to kick on
In the women’s breaststroke events, Angharad Evans will be looking to cement her place as one of the leading female swimmers in the country.
The 22-year-old set a British record over 100m breaststroke in 2024 before making the Olympic final on debut.
Last year, she won both the 100m and 200m breaststroke at the Aquatics GB Championships and she will be hoping to do so once again as she targets a first major long-course individual medal after winning European short-course silver over the longer distance last year. Scott’s long-distance focus
The highlight of almost every Aquatics GB Championships in recent times has been the men’s 200m freestyle, and that will be no different this time around.
Tom Dean, who is now training up in Stirling, will not make it after withdrawing through injury, but his training partners Duncan Scott and Jack McMillan, two members of the team that won World Championship gold last summer in Singapore, will be there.
Scott recently told Olympics.com that he is shifting his focus more exclusively to 200m events, the 200m freestyle and 200m individual medley, events in which he has three Olympic silver medals to his name.
That means he will not be doing the 100m freestyle, having shifted his focus away from speed in training.
Others who could be in the mix in the 200m freestyle include former individual world champions James Guy and Matth Richards.
Ones to watch
There will be plenty more big names in action over the course of the week, with Freya Colbert and Abbie Wood set to continue their rivalry over middle distance freestyle and medleys.
And Amelie Blocksidge, still only 17, will hope to continue her dominance over 800m and 1500m freestyle having successfully defended her titles in both events a year ago.
Sportsbeat 2026