Isle of Man head swimming coach Lee Holland has hailed the island’s competitors after their record-breaking start to the 2026 Commonwealth Games.

Numerous Manx records have already tumbled in the pool at Glasgow's Tollcross International Swimming Centre during the opening day and a half of competition at the 23rd edition of the Games.

‘This is only day two and it feels like I've been through the ringer emotionally, but yesterday was incredible.

‘We came in today wondering how we were going to top that and I think we've done just as good a job.’

The Games began in style when the women's 4x100 metres freestyle relay quartet of Ella Justice, Kiera Prentice, Lauren Dennett and Libby Curphey smashed the Isle of Man record by nine seconds.

‘They set the bar really high. Every one of them produced a really solid swim and then handed over to the lads almost saying, “What have you got?”

‘The men responded in exactly the same way. They broke the record in the morning session, qualified for the final and then went even quicker in the evening to lower it again.

‘Joe Watterson also set a new Isle of Man record in the individual 100m freestyle with his lead-off leg in the relay, so it really was an amazing start.’

The records continued to fall on Saturday morning, with Watterson lowering his own 100m butterfly record before the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay also rewrote the record books by another nine seconds.

‘I'll be honest, after such a big evening I was asking questions about how we'd respond. There's often a bit of an adrenaline drop after something like that, but there was absolutely no sign of it.

‘Joel produced another fantastic swim, we've had lots of personal bests and really aggressive, solid performances in the heats. Then the mixed relay went and took another nine seconds off the Isle of Man record. It's starting to become a habit.

‘They've qualified for another final and we've also had two swimmers promoted from reserve to the semi-finals, so Ella Justice gets another opportunity in the 100m backstroke and Laura Kinley will swim again in the 100m breaststroke.

‘I'm honestly amazed by them.’

Follow the team’s progress on this website and on our social platforms, as well as the Isle of Man Examiner, Manx Independent and Isle of Man Courier newspapers.

Media Isle of Man’s Commonwealth Games coverage is brought to you in association with Canaccord Wealth.