Olympic medallist Luke Greenbank is ready to right his Commonwealth Games wrongs at Glasgow 2026. The 28-year-old from Cockermouth made his Team England debut on the Gold Coast and after winning 200m backstroke bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, was a heavy favourite to medal in Birmingham. Despite leading at 150m, the swimmer was overhauled in the last few meters and finished off the podium in fifth place. It was a disappointing outcome for Greenbank who is now ready for redemption in Scotland after adopting a new outlook.
Learning from past setbacks
"As much as I've enjoyed Commonwealth Games, I don't think I've ever swam my best swims there," he said. "Birmingham wasn't kind of the result I wanted so I am using that to motivate me going forward. I think one of the lessons I did learn from that was not to be so hard on myself. Going into this competition, I'm much clearer about what I need to do to succeed and achieve. But if it doesn't go my way, then I think I'll be able to bounce back quicker just off the back of that experience."
"Birmingham was not a great swim. I wasn't very happy with it, but I learned a lot from it. As I've got later in my career, I think that's like really benefiting me to kind of move on and learn from that."
New leadership in backstroke squad
With defending champion Brodie Williams of England having retired in the years since Birmingham, Greenbank will now be the most experienced of a bolstered backstroke squad in Glasgow. Nine-time backstroke British champion Ollie Morgan, Cameron Brooker and Jack Skerry will all be part of the team in Scotland.
"I think all the boys, Ollie, Cam, Jack, like they're absolutely flying at the minute," he added. "It is really good for the backstroke events. We all push each other on really well and I think you've seen that a lot with different strokes in the team as well."
Focus on personal best
After a few seasons of just missing out on podium finishes, and a painful disqualification at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Greenbank will now look to return to the top for England in Glasgow, bolstered by around £95 million of National Lottery funding given to swimming and para swimming since 2000.
"I just want to aim for a personal best. That is always the plan," he said. "If you think too much about where you're going to place then you can get caught up in the outcome and not really think about the process. We've been working a lot in training around pacing and the finer skills details and I think if I can implement them well in my race, then the results will come to me."
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