Asia Kent reaches semi finals at Glasgow 2026

After the disappointment of narrowly missing out on qualification in her first race at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, having finished just two places outside the top 16, Asia Kent returned to compete in the women's 50m breaststroke hoping for better fortune.
With four heats scheduled for the event, the 16 fastest swimmers would qualify for the semi-finals, with the remainder eliminated.
Drawn in one of the strongest heats, with Heat 3 featuring some of the fastest entry times, Asia Kent once again faced a tough contest. She lined up alongside Emma Bourgaize (GGY), Kaylene Corbett (RSA), Sienna Toohey (AUS), Gabrielle Idle-Beavers (ENG), Amy Crowley (WAL) and Kelera Mudunasoko (FIJ).
Also competing in the same heat was Gibraltar teammate Katie Green, who had only just completed another race earlier that morning.
Kent, with an entry time of 33.32 seconds, was ranked fourth fastest in her heat, although she was up against swimmers such as Toohey, who entered with 30.39 seconds, and Idle-Beavers with 30.82 seconds.
Ahead of Monday's racing, the Gibraltar swimming team had already received praise from GSLA official Matt Reoch following their opening three days of competition. Reoch, who was travelling with Team Gibraltar alongside Gibraltar's Minister for Sport, Leslie Bruzon, praised the team and described their performances as being "beyond expectations". Although none of the young squad had progressed beyond the heats before Monday, they had shown they were there not simply to make up the numbers, but to compete.
The women's 50m breaststroke became a focal point on Monday, with Gibraltar's two swimmers competing in the same heat as some of the fastest athletes at the Games, providing another opportunity for Gibraltar to rise to the occasion.
Australia's Tara Kinder had set the early benchmark with a time of 31.88 seconds in the opening heat.
Sophie Angus lowered that mark in Heat 2 with a time of 30.79 seconds, while two other swimmers also went faster than Kinder.
With the standard now set high, it was the turn of the Gibraltar swimmers.
As expected, Sienna Toohey topped the third heat, the Australian touching the wall in 30.72 seconds.
Asia Kent finished fifth in her heat with a time of 33.11 seconds, while Katie Green recorded a respectable 37.71 seconds to finish eighth.
Kent's time placed her inside the top 11 after the completion of Heat 3, leaving her to wait anxiously for the outcome of the final heat.
Kent ultimately secured her place in the semi-finals, finishing 16th overall to become the first Gibraltar swimmer to progress beyond the heats at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Asia had competed her run after a 33.11s 50m split, maintaining her position. Finishing her heat ahead of Fiji's Kelera Mudunasoko. Keeping both Uganda's Namutebi Kirabo and Bahama's Zaylie Elizabeth Thompson outside the top sixteen.
Katie Green was to finish 26th overall from 30 swimmers overall.
After the race Asia Kent admitted that she “had not expected to get into the semi-finals” adding that she hopes to get close to her personal best. She currently holds the national record for the distance.