Leamington swim ace Lauren Cox hoping to shine at Glasgow Commonwealth Games

Cox, 24, made her senior debut at the Games in Birmingham in 2022 where she led off the Team England women’s and mixed medley relays which both went on to win bronze.

She also finished fourth in the 50m back – 0.03 off Kaylee McKeown in third – and fifth in the 100m.

“I’ve been saying for a really long time now that the 2022 Commonwealth Games was my favourite meet,” Cox told Swimming World.

“I think in the 100 I PB'd every time I stepped in the water. It was my first time swimming in front of a really big crowd, first time on a senior team, first time on a podium.

“It was a lot of firsts and I really think that inspired me and motivated me to see that actually I really want to take this seriously and I really want to represent Great Britain at the next level up. So those medals were a big milestone for me and opened my eyes to seeing that this is what I could do if I continued to work hard.”

From there she went straight on to the European Championships in Rome where she swam the prelims of the mixed medley relay before being replaced in the final as the British quartet finished third.

She then won 50m back bronze at the 2023 Worlds, followed a year later by heartbreak at missing out on the Great Britain team for the Paris Olympics.

She then claimed the 100m back crown at the European Short-Course Championships in Lublin and set a 26.03 British 50m back record en-route to fourth.

Now she heads into the Games in Glasgow as fourth fastest in the Commonwealth in the 50m back and fifth in the 100m in 27.39 and 59.45 respectively.

“I feel the exact same way about the Commonwealths as I do the Europeans and Worlds,” she said. “It has the same feel and I go in with the same seriousness as I would for those meets.

“It’s another chance. We have the Aussies and the Canadians – they’re still the ones I’m trying to beat at the Worlds. So the level of competition for me is still the same, so I see it level with everything else.”