Alice Tai was not even sure she would be able to compete at the Commonwealth Games in the build-up but she came through to make it a hat-trick of gold medals.
Competing in the S9 100m backstroke, despite being an S8 swimmer, Tai paced her race to perfection to win a third title in the event after doing so in Birmingham and Gold Coast.
Her time of 1:11.93 was more than two seconds clear of the rest of the field and she admitted afterwards that it had taken a lot of work even to get to Tollcross to compete.
She said: “It's crazy, honestly. A few weeks ago I didn't even think I'd be able to compete here because I had an injury flare-up. The medical team did an incredible job getting me back in the pool and ready to race.
“To retain the title is just insane. It still hasn't really sunk in. Right now it's all a bit of a blur.
“It’s actually related to the injury that forced me to withdraw from Tokyo in 2021. The nerve in my right arm keeps getting irritated, and after racing a few weeks ago it flared up badly again.
“With nerve pain, you never really know how it's going to settle, so I honestly wasn't sure I'd be able to compete. The doctors and physios have been amazing. They're the reason I'm here, and I'm incredibly grateful to them. I'm also just really happy I'm not in a huge amount of pain anymore, because that wasn't much fun.”
The injury was so serious that at one point, Tai was not convinced she would race again in 2026.
To overcome that disappointment, she turned to those around her and took her focus away from the pool, but once the all-clear was given to compete, she was able to give swimming all her attention once again, with a great result inevitably following.
She added: “I had a couple of weeks where I genuinely thought my season was over, so I wasn't really focused on swimming. I was spending time with my friends, we were going to comedy nights and just enjoying ourselves. I probably only started thinking seriously about racing again about a week ago.”
Sportsbeat 2026
