Guernsey sisters Delphine and Elodie Riley have made their mark at the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, competing head-to-head in the 200m freestyle heats. Nineteen-year-old Delphine edged out her younger sister Elodie, 17, in their heat at the Tollcross pool on Saturday morning. Despite the sibling rivalry, both expressed the comfort of having a familiar face during such a significant international event.
Delphine secured fifth place in their heat with a time of 2:11.01, finishing two places above Elodie, whose time was 0.67 seconds slower. Overall, Delphine placed 28th and Elodie 30th in a field of 36 swimmers, which included Australian Olympic gold medallist Lani Pallister. Elodie highlighted the unique experience, stating, "Coming to a massive international event like this, it's nice to have some sort of familiarity to ease us into it. We've never done anything like this before so it's definitely nice to race alongside my sister."
This was not their first joint appearance in the pool, as the sisters also competed in the same heat for the 400m freestyle on Friday. Their busy schedule continues with the 800m freestyle event scheduled for Tuesday. Delphine, reflecting on the experience, commented, "I've never been to a meet this big before. I went to the Youth Commonwealth Games in Trinidad, which was also amazing. But this is an incredible atmosphere and such big names racing it's just amazing to watch and just watch them on poolside." Elodie is already looking ahead, stating her inspiration to aim for the next Commonwealth Games.
Beyond the Riley sisters, other Guernsey athletes have also achieved notable performances. The island's mixed 4x100m freestyle relay team, comprising Tatia Tostevin, Charlie-Joe Hallett, Henry Bolton, and Orla Rabey, set a new island record with a time of 3:46.15. This impressive performance shattered the previous record of 4:02.79 by over 16 seconds. Bolton also finished 46th in the men's 50m freestyle, while Tatiana Tostevin secured 21st place in the women's 100m backstroke.
In lawn bowls, Guernsey's Alison Merrien and Rose Ogier maintained an unbeaten record in the women's pairs, topping their pool with three wins from three matches. They delivered a dominant performance against their Zambian opponents, Getrude Siame and Foster Banda, securing set victories of 8-0 and 10-0. This strong start places them in an excellent position to advance to the knockout stages. However, Jason Greenslade faced his second defeat in the men's singles tournament, losing 2-0 to Royden Aperau of the Cook Islands in a closely contested match.