When Freya Colbert steps out for her second Commonwealth Games this summer, it will be as a new and improved version of herself.

The 22-year-old from Grantham made her debut for Team England at Birmingham 2022 as a fresh-faced teenager and clinched 4x200m freestyle relay bronze in the process. 

However, a lot can change in four years, and the swimmer now enters her second Games in Glasgow as an Olympian, a world champion and one of the favourites for the women's 200m freestyle.

With her newfound status as a household Team England name, Colbert can only enjoy the journey that she has been on to get there.

"I am super excited," she said. "It's a big full circle moment for me and I think it gives me quite a large opportunity for self-reflection. 

"Since the last Commonwealth Games, I've changed my main events, I've been to a World Championships, I've been to the Olympics, I am a British record holder.

"When I look back at the girl who went in 2022 to Birmingham, it is a very different person. 

"I was a bit of a nervous teenager back then, I still lived at home, I was still in school. 

"I'm more of a mainstay on the team now and more comfortable in myself and I'm looking forward to seeing how that impacts my experience and my results."

In the lead up to Glasgow 2026, Colbert has lowered her 200m freestyle British record not once, but twice.

The Loughborough-based athlete touched the wall in a time of 1:54.98 in Edinburgh back in March, before knocking over half a second off a month later at the 2026 Aquatics GB Championships to set a new standard of 1:54.34.

She is aiming for another record in Glasgow and with the likes of reigning world champion Mollie O'Callaghan of Australia lining up, Colbert is excited to see what new heights she can reach.

"It's always going to be an aim to lower that British record," she said.

"I think for Commonwealth Games in particular, I'm really looking forward to racing against some of the Aussie girls because they are so good at the event.

"Having that opportunity for me to race other people at the top of the sport in that event is something that I haven't had the last couple of times I broke the British record. 

"I'm really looking forward to having a practice at racing Mollie before the LA Olympics and get my head in the game a bit for that."

The Commonwealth Games also provides a rare opportunity for Colbert to race against some of her mates on different teams.

With the home nations splitting up the Aquatics GB team, the English swimmer noted just how fun it can be when you get to trash talk your best friends behind the blocks.

"I remember one year I'd just done my first World Championships with Medi Harris from Wales and we'd shared a room," she said.

"We bonded quite a lot. We were both newbies on the team and then I saw her in a Wales kit and I was like, "Eww". It is so fun to trash talk your best mates, because obviously you can get away with it. 

"Obviously you've got to be a certain level of friendship to start trash talking each other but It's fun and it's interesting."