University contingent ready to make mark at Commonwealth Games

Four students and three recent graduates are among the University of Bath-associated athletes, coaches and support staff who will be representing their countries at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, which begin today, Thursday 23rd July.

Aleeya Sibbons and Justin Davies – here with athletics coach Colin Bovell at the University of Bath Sports Training Village – will run at the Commonwealth Games | Photo courtesy of University of Bath

Bill Whiteley Sporting Scholar Matthew Ward will be racing for Team Scotland in the swimming pool, and his Aquatics GB Bath Performance Centre team-mates Cam Brooker, Jack Skerry and Jacob Peters – at his third Games – are competing for Team England.

Sports Performance student Lowri Windsor and Team Bath NXT Gen League colleague Poppy Tydeman are part of the Team Wales netball squad, and Jayda Pechova – who graduated from the university on Friday 17th July – is in the England squad along with fellow Bath alumna Imogen Allison.

The athletics action will see Justin Davies, who also graduated last week, race for Team Wales in the 800m. And Aleeya Sibbons, coached by Colin Bovell at the Team Bath Sports Training Village, is in the women’s 4x100m relay squad eyeing gold for Team England.

Team Bath high-performance judo coach Adam Hall will represent Northern Ireland in Glasgow after returning to competition for the first time in eight years.

The swimmers will be the first Bath athletes in action – tomorrow, Friday 24th July – when six busy days of competition begin at the Tollcross International Swimming Centre.

Aquatics GB Bath Performance Centre’s Jack Sherry will swim for Team England at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games | Photo courtesy of University of Bath

Ward, an integrated mechanical and electrical engineering student, cannot wait to race for the host country.

He said: “I’ve never had that home-field advantage before – all the international competitions I’ve been to have been away.

“Having the majority crowd behind me and getting to see my parents and other family members in the crowd is definitely very exciting.”

Among Ward’s rivals will be computer science student Skerry, who said: “We’ve got a big backstroke contingent here at Bath and we battle it out a lot in training.

“But this will be a different experience, with Matt up for Scotland and Cam and I racing against him for Team England. It’s always fun, though, and I’m sure it’ll be a good one.”

Completing the backstroke contingent is Brooker, who is continuing a big summer after graduating last week with a first-class honours degree in mechanical engineering.

Team Bath NXT Gen League netball star Lowri Windsor is the youngest Bath-based athlete selected for the Commonwealth Games | Photo courtesy of University of Bath

He said: “I was at home watching the last Games in Birmingham and seeing some of my team-mates win medals for our country. So to be a part of it now, having missed out then, is unbelievably exciting.”

While his training partners are all making their Commonwealth debuts, this will be a third Games for butterfly specialist Peters. He won 4x100m medley relay silver at Gold Coast 2018 and gold at Birmingham 2022.

Peters said: “Representing Team England is always a pleasure and I’m really excited to be able to do that for my third time.

“I’d love to walk away with a couple of medals. I’ve got my eye on the 50m fly individual, I’m going in as second seed, so trying to push for that gold medal would be a dream really.”

Also targeting top spot on the podium is sprinter Sibbons, an architecture graduate who has continued to train full-time at the University of Bath, a UK Sport-accredited Elite Training Centre.

She said: “All the girls are going into the relay with one goal in mind – to win, run fast and execute.

“This is a big step in my career. It’s just reinforcing that I’m good enough, and I’m good enough to be competing at this high level for Team England.”

Team Bath AC middle-distance runner Davies, coached by Martin Rush, has been hampered by injury this season but is determined to demonstrate why he is the Welsh 800m record holder both indoors and outdoors.

Davies, who graduated in biomedical sciences last week, said: “I really want to make the final.

“I know I’m not in the shape I necessarily wanted but we’ve got a plan and I’m confident, if I play my cards right, that it can happen.”

The youngest Bath-based athlete selected for the Games is netballer Windsor who, at just 19, has earned a senior Team Wales call-up less than a year after competing at the Junior Netball World Cup.

Windsor, who excelled at wing-attack for Team Bath in the 2026 NXT Gen League, said: “It’s something I’ve always dreamed of.

“To represent my country on such a big stage is a real honour and truly something I’m looking forward to.”

Tydeman, who was Team Bath fans’ player of the year for 2026, said: “There are players in the Wales squad that I’ve looked up to since I was growing up, so to now even be playing alongside them, let alone going to a Commonwealth Games with them, is a dream come true.”

Windsor and Tydeman, who plays wing-defence, will have a familiar face on the sidelines in Natalie Roddy, joint head coach of Team Bath’s NXT Gen League squad and Team Wales assistant coach.

Also part of the Wales support staff is Katy Williams, senior multi-sport physiotherapist at Team Bath, who will be working with the judo and 3×3 basketball squads.

Bath Performance Centre’s Calum Jarvis, a medal winner in the pool for Team Wales when Glasgow last hosted the Games in 2014, is a swimming coach for Team England this time round – and Dr Victoria Jones is performance analyst.