Performance of the day
“This medal is 20 years,” a tearful Hazel Ouwehand said, a “heavy” bronze around her neck – her first international swimming medal of any hue.
The lanky 50m butterfly sprinter – who also works fulltime as an Auckland accountant – made it two bronzes for New Zealand on day two, just minutes after Erika Fairweather won her second medal of these Games with a stunning finish in the 200m freestyle.
The Kiwi swimmers almost added a third bronze later in the morning, with the 4x100m freestyle mixed relay – featuring Fairweather in her third swim of the day – narrowly missing the podium, edged out by Wales.
Ouwehand, who grew up in the tiny Waikato settlement of Te Pahū and learned to swim from her mum, paid tribute to her family, who were in the stands at the Tollcross Swimming Centre.
“Without my mum and dad waking up at 5am for at least the first 10-15 years of my swimming… without my sisters who used to swim as well, I was following in their footsteps,” the 26-year-old said.
“My middle sister Chelsea’s dream was always to go to the Comm Games and the Olympics, so I also feel like I’m doing this for her too.”
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Ouwehand missed the 50m fly final at the 2022 Games, but was the third-fastest qualifier after last night’s semifinals. She was rapt to break 26s in a hectic final, clocking 25.76s, with Aussie Alex Perkins winning in 25.37s. World junior champion Zoe Pedersen, still just 19, also made it into her first Commonwealth final – and finished a hugely creditable fifth.
After her 400m freestyle silver on day one, Fairweather dug deep to win her bronze in the 200m. The fifth-fastest qualifier, Fairweather powered past English swimmer Freya Colbert on the swim home, finishing in 1m 55.24s, just 0.18s outside her personal best time.
“It was definitely a bit of a dog fight, but yeah, I was happy to get the job done,” she said.
The mixed relay quartet of Chelsey Edwards, Fairweather, Cameron Gray and Carter Swift had to be content with setting a new New Zealand record of 3m 24.82s, missing bronze by half a second.
She said it
“I’ve competed against Hazel since I was probably like 15 years old. And to be at the Commonwealth Games with her, it’s just so special. It’s going to be a moment I remember forever,” Zoe Pedersen on swimming next to Ouwehand in the 50m butterfly final, before walking away from the pool hand-in-hand with her role model.
The good news
New Zealand’s 3×3 women’s basketball team are three from three, ending their first day stopping 2022 silver medallists England in their tracks, 21-12.
“We definitely had to grind that one out… England was a battle from the start,” said Eva Langton afterwards. “Three from three is awesome, where we wanted to be.”
The team of Langton, Ella Fotu, Azure Anderson and Sharne Pupuke-Robati beat Papua New Guinea, 22-6, and Tonga, 21-8. Pupuke-Robati ended the day with a stand-out 30 points.
The Silver Ferns are on the board in Glasgow, but will need get down to business much quicker and slicker against 2022 silver medallists Jamaica tomorrow morning.
In their first hit-out of 2026, the Silver Ferns beat Scotland 74-44, but it wasn’t always convincing. Wearing an unusual grey dress, the Ferns looked rusty at times, struggling to forge some connections.
“We know we have a lot of work to do on attack and defence,” said Grace Nweke, who shot 29 from 30 in her two quarters. “We just want to start the game well and be confident in our structures and our game. We know Jamaica have firepower, but so do we, and I think it will be a great match-up,”
In Dame Noeline Taurua’s first time at the helm in 634 days, she gave 11 of her 12 players court-time, resting Catherine Hall who’s returning from injury. Goal keep Kelly Jackson was the only player on court for the full 60 minutes and with good reason – holding the defence together with four intercepts and seven gains. She paired well with Carys Stythe, playing her first test at goal defence. Taurua also tried Mila Reuelu-Buchanan at wing defence for the first time.
While the New Zealand shooting stats were respectable, successful with 89 percent, there were some ropey passes in and out of the circle. Scotland, ranked 10th in the world, put up a decent fight, but the Ferns finally got their act together to dominate the fourth quarter, 21-7.
Coming out of a six-year retirement, gymnast Courtney McGregor has made two finals in the individual all-round and the vault. The Auckland trainee doctor was the best of the four New Zealanders competing in the teams event, finishing 15th in the field of 38 gymnasts, and eighth in the vault, her favoured apparatus.
New Zealand’s Para bowls mixed pair of Sonya Woodrow (with director Kimberley Carraher) and Kerrin Wheeler (with director Colin Wheeler) kept their medal hopes alive with a thrilling tie break win over Wales, and a dominant 6-5, 7-1 win over Australia.
The previously unbeaten women’s pair of Katelyn Inch and Selina Goddard also found themselves in a third set tiebreaker against Canada, but didn’t get the rub of the indoor green, losing 4-5, 5-3, 2-0. They’ll need to beat table-topping Wales in their next match to stay in the medal hunt.
First-time Games swimmers and training partners Amber George and Savannah-Eve Martin both made it into the semifinals of the 100m backstroke, but finished sixth and seventh, missing out on the final.
The not-so good news
There will be no fairy-tale home Games for Scotland’s star track athlete Eilish McColgan, whose bid to defend her 10,000m title has been scuppered by a toe injury.
The Dundee runner – poster girl for these Games – hurt her foot during the London Marathon 10 weeks ago and ran out of runway to get on the startline. “The good news is I’m back running. The bad news is I’ve simply run out of time to get myself, and my toe, back into spikes.”
What the?
Two Australian Diamonds sat in the stands at The Hydro cheering not for their world No.1 side, but for Tonga – the netball team making their Commonwealth Games debut.
Amy Parmenter and Jessie Grenvold, Diamond reserves in Glasgow, held a sign reading ‘The People’s Princess Pav’ – for their Melbourne Mavericks teammate Uneeq Palavi, who was born in Australia but represents the island nation courtesy of her Tongan dad.
Even with Pav’s unlikely vocal cheer squad, Tonga couldn’t keep pace with the defending champions, who cruised to a 99-38 victory.
“It’s just another step closer to put our little country on the map and that’s all that matters,” Palavi said.
Who’s up next
SWIMMING: Chelsey Edwards, Zoe Pedersen, 100m freestyle, Sun 9.35pm, Hazel Ouwehand, 100m butterfly, Sun 10.48pm (semis Mon 6.45am & 7.34am). Erika Fairweather, Caitlin Deans, Eve Thomas, 1500m freestyle, Mon 8.04am.
BOXING: Greer Hall, first round, Sun 10.45pm
LAWN BOWLS: Selina Goddard & Katelyn Inch, women’s pairs, Sun 11.45pm
GYMNASTICS: Women’s all round final, Courtney McGregor, Mon 5am
NETBALL: Silver Ferns vs Jamaica, Mon 8am
