The Scotland-England sister rivalry at Glasgow 2026

Teenage sisters Astrid and Ursula Carroll will make their Commonwealth Games debuts in Glasgow while representing different nations: Astrid swims for Scotland and Ursula for England. Their meeting in the women’s 100m freestyle S13 heats is significant because it will be the first competitive race between the visually impaired siblings, who usually train together.

Astrid, 17, was born in Edinburgh, while 14-year-old Ursula was born in Halifax and is England’s youngest competitor at the Games. Both have Stargardt disease, a progressive inherited condition affecting central vision; Astrid normally races in the S12 class and Ursula in S13, but Commonwealth Games rules combine visually impaired swimmers into one category. Astrid won individual silver and bronze at the 2025 Para-swimming World Championships and has adapted her racing through stroke counting, verbal coaching and tapper assistance.