Kirralee Hayes hadn’t swum for Australia since the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. On Day 5 of the Games in Glasgow, she held court on top of the podium after emphatically claiming gold in the women’s 50 metres freestyle S13.
Hayes competed at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, won bronze in the 50 at Birmingham and added a bronze medal in the 100 metres freestyle S13 earlier in this Games campaign.
But her crowning moment came on Day 5, with a dominant victory in the one-lap dash, clocking 27.63s, ahead of South Africa’s Danika Vyncke and Australia’s Jenna Jones, who took bronze in 29.02s. Fellow Australian Mia Hogan came fourth.
In an interview in May with her local newspaper, the Moreton Daily, Hayes said of her two-year break from competitive swimming: “I struggled with my mental health, my identity. For me, it meant stepping away from the sport to encourage myself to grow and find my passions again.
“It wasn’t till around April, May 2025 I really started getting the urge, that fire and drive to make a comeback.”
Of her selection for Glasgow 2026, she added: “In the 2022 Commonwealth Games I achieved my first international medal with a time of 28.24s and I plan to exceed this (in Scotland).”
Mission accomplished.
Meanwhile, Australia’s 3×3 wheelchair basketball men’s and women’s teams will both face home nation Scotland in their semi final showdowns on Day 6. Should they progress, they will be playing for medals later on the same day.
In other results, Lindsey Hendy finished seventh in the men’s long jump T20 final.
Twenty-two of the Games’ 47 medal events on the Para sport program have been completed. Australia has won five gold, five silver and six bronze medals, closely trailing England, which has won seven gold, four silver and five bronze medals.
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