Jacob Peters hopes Glasgow 2026 can continue his love affair with the Commonwealth Games and banish his Parisian demons in the process.

The Friendly Games have played a key role in Peters’ career in the pool, with the swimmer making his senior debut on the Gold Coast in 2018 before winning relay gold at home in Birmingham four years later.

Now, the 24-year-old has his sights set on a third Games representing Team England as he targets a place at the LA 2028 Olympics following the disappointment of narrowly missing out on Paris 2024 last summer.

“I can’t wait to hopefully be on that team in Glasgow in two years’ time,” he said.

“Commies has always been amazing for me. It was my first-ever senior competition back in 2018, I qualified when I was just 17.

“I have had a great time. I went to Gold Coast, which was amazing, and then I was lucky enough to swim at a home Games, so I have been really lucky so far.

“I am looking forward to continuing that tradition and hopefully getting some individual medals to back up my relay medals and complete the collection.”

Peters’ Commonwealth debut was one to remember, as he lined up for his 50m butterfly heat alongside compatriot Ben Proud and Olympic gold medallist Chad le Clos.

But it is exactly that kind of competition that makes the Commonwealth Games a special part of the calendar for Peters.

“It threw me a little bit in the deep end but I absolutely loved it,” he revealed.


“It is an amazing meet, there is not as much pressure compared to the Olympics and that plays in its favour as everyone goes in relaxed and happy and that leads to some really fast swimming.

“Multi-sport events are always great fun, you see a lot of people you would never see otherwise.

“You go into the food hall and you have all shapes and sizes of athletes. It is amazing to connect with all different types of people.”

Peters will aim for Glasgow with a rejuvenated sense of purpose as he looks towards the ultimate aim of representing Team GB at the LA 2028 Olympics.

The 24-year-old missed out on a place in Paris after finishing third at British trials, after which he revealed he struggled to adapt, but hopes the new focus of Glasgow 2026 can help keep him hungry.

“This year was a big learning phase for me and there are many things I can take away from that,” he added.

“I was lucky enough to have an amazing support group around me to channel that disappointment and the negative side of not making the team.

“There was a decision to be made, a lot of people retire after not making Games or at the end of a four-year cycle. Having that break and those people around me allowed me to come to a sound judgement that this is still what I want to do.

“I still have aims for LA 2028. I learned a lot about myself, I am not ready to give up and move on. I still have a lot still to give.

“Having a goal is crucial; I learned that post-trials this year. I didn’t have a goal for the summer, and I lost a little bit of purpose in my training.

“I was still turning up and doing the best I could but having no real goal at the end of the season affected me much more than I expected it to. It becomes so much harder when you don’t have a goal.

“Having the Commies in 2026 really breaks up the four-year cycle. It makes the training day-to-day so much easier.”

Should Peters return in 2026, the two-time Commonwealth medallist is relishing the opportunity to fly the English flag against some of his British team-mates and continue making more memories.

“When we compete, we are still usually one team but when you have that fierce England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland rivalry at Commies, those feelings get dissipated and we want to beat each other,” he added. “That is one of the things that make it so much more exciting.

“When we touch the wall we are friends but we definitely want to be taking those medals home for ourselves.”