Golden Sam makes Short shrift of rivals in Games pool

Ian Chadband and Shayne Hope | July 26, 2026

Sam Short has led home a dominant Australian medal clean sweep in the 400m freestyle to launch the second night of the Commonwealth Games swimming program in dazzling style.

With Mollie O’Callaghan then powering to victory in the 200m freestyle final ahead of her teammate, 400m winner Lani Pallister, and Alex Perkins grabbing gold in the 50m butterfly, it marked a continuation of the Dolphins’ spectacular start at the Tollcross pool following their six golds on the opening night. 

Short, who’s shooting for an ambitious five gold medals in Glasgow, destroyed the field to win by more than four seconds in 3 minutes 41.25 seconds on Sunday morning (AEST).

Behind the 22-year-old Queenslander, though, there was a battle royal for the silver medal before Elijah Winnington (3:45.56) pipped teammate Ben Goedemans by a mere one-hundredth of a second.

“A very good start. Probably the best start I could have for the week. I’m ready to go from here,” beamed Short, who’s gunning for four individual golds.

“I feel good … it’s the third-fastest swim I’ve done and when you come here with the travel and all that sort of stuff, it throws a bit of a spanner in the works. 

“It’s not as easy as just staying at home and eating my mum’s food and then going to trials. This is a much harder experience.”

The sweep mirrored the 400m free 1-2-3 in Birmingham four years ago when Winnington led home Short, with Mack Horton nabbing the bronze.

“It just goes to show the rich history of Australian 400m swimming and it’s super special,” said Winnington.

It was the first clean sweep of medals in the pool, with Short simply powering away from the field after he had taken the lead at the 100m mark.

The 400m final also featured the Games debut of 21-year-old Scottish swimmer Sean McCann, who finished last with a time of 3:53.57. 

McCann and his twin sister were two years old when their older sister Madeleine, then aged three, went missing during a 2007 family holiday in Portugal, a disappearance that remains one of the world’s most high-profile missing person cases.

O’Callaghan, who’d been part of the women’s 4x100m freestyle-winning quartet the night before, showed no signs of any injury concerns as she outpaced Pallister, the 22-year-old Queenslander stopping the clock at 1:54.66 to Pallister’s 1:55.01.

Then came a glorious moment for Perkins, the relay star who’s so often the bridesmaid in international events as she swept to her first major individual triumph in a major event two days before her 26th birthday, taking the butterfly gold in a sizzling 25.37 seconds.