If timing is everything in sport then Archie Goodburn has made things very difficult for himself.
The 25-year-old breaststroke swimmer’s best-ever time, which he posted earlier this year, would have been good enough to snatch a place on the podium at every Commonwealth Games in history. In many editions of the Games, it would have been good enough for gold.
At this Commonwealth Games however, such is the standard of men due to be lining-up, even if Goodburn swims faster than he ever has, a medal is far from guaranteed for the Scot.
That Goodburn is even talking about becoming a Commonwealth Games medallist is remarkable. The University of Edinburgh student is as far from a typical athlete, or at least his circumstances are, as one can imagine.
Just over two years ago, Goodburn was diagnosed with brain cancer, with his form of brain cancer - three oligodendroglioma tumours - all inoperable and unable to be removed.
This news was, of course, devastating for Goodburn. But the breaststroker, who had swum for both Scotland and GB prior to his diagnosis, vowed to continue swimming. And, against all the odds, Goodburn has swum faster post-diagnosis than pre.
His most recent personal best, which came in February of this year, was his most impressive performance. Indeed, his swim of 27.12 seconds wasn’t just a personal best, it was a new Scottish 50m breaststroke record.
Selection for Team Scotland’s 25-strong swimming team followed that swim and Goodburn is gearing-up to make his second Commonwealth Games appearance at Glasgow 2026 having made his debut at Birmingham 2022 four years ago.
In his specialist event, the 50m breaststroke, the Scot will, most dauntingly, be up against the greatest men’s sprint breaststroke swimmer of all-time. Englishman Adam Ramsay-Peaty has three Olympic gold medals, eight world titles and the 50m breaststroke world record to his name and will be in Glasgow as the hot favourite to defend his Commonwealth 50m breaststroke title that he won at Birmingham 2022.
Read more: Archie Goodburn on his 'terrifying' seizure and, yet again, defying the odds
Josh Kerr: I want to be known as the best miler in history
Goodburn and Ramsay-Peaty have developed a close relationship in recent years but the Scot is in little doubt as to how tough a task it will be to challenge for the top step of the podium at Tollcross International Swimming Centre.
“It's exciting to know I'll be racing Peaty,” says Goodburn, who is part of Edinburgh University’s Performance Programme.
“We're good friends now, and he's obviously an amazing swimmer. And across the board, the competition is just so strong so of course that’s hard knowing you have to swim so fast to get a medal.”
All of the Scots will benefit from home advantage in Glasgow but Goodburn is likely to be more of a home favourite than most. Having had a taste of a home crowd at Birmingham 2022, Goodburn believes that experience leaves him as well-equipped as its possible to be to use the crowd to his advantage at Glasgow 2026.
“I've done a lot of visualisation about what this Games will feel like and having been to Birmingham helps because it means I know what it will feel like walking out,” he says.
“I remember in Birmingham the crowd were cheering for Peaty and it was just so loud. It was like the noise was going through me, and even though they were cheering for Peaty, you get a bounce from that yourself as well.
“This time in Glasgow, though, that cheering will be for the Scottish athletes, which is unbelievable. I really do think having the crowd behind you can push you on but then it’s about not feeling that as a pressure but using it to help you.”
That Goodburn will even be on the blocks in Glasgow is astonishing. Having avoided any brain cancer-related seizures for over a year, his first, and worst-ever, hit in April of this year. A stay in hospital left Goodburn wondering if his Commonwealth Games dream was over but, as he’s become accustomed to doing, he defied all predictions and rediscovered something close to his best form remarkably quickly.
Such disruptions to his training and competition schedule due to everything brain cancer-related are, he admits, far from ideal but he’s shifted his mindset and now refuses to believe that his health challenges put him at an automatic disadvantage to his opponents.
“I have all my medical appointments and I'm also trying to study, train and compete, so it's a lot,” Goodburn admits.
“After my recent seizure, I had to up my medication further, which is never good because the medication is designed to slow your brain down, which obviously isn’t ideal. So it can be hard knowing I’ve got no choice but to take this medication but I just need to get on with it.
“I try to look at it from the angle of, actually, is there evidence that having brain cancer and being on the medication I am slows you down? There actually isn't evidence of that. And the advantage of being a sprinter is that my training can be adapted so we’re working around it as well as we can. And things have been good recently.”
Goodburn will arrive at Glasgow 2026 having gone through more in the four years since the last Commonwealth Games than many go through in a lifetime. And while he has an understandable perspective on sporting success given he’s living with brain cancer, he’s also cognisant of quite how much a medal at this Commonwealth Games would mean to him.
“I do feel like a different person compared to the swimmer who was at Birmingham 2022,” he reflects.
“Obviously, so much has happened. I feel like I was a boy at Birmingham 2022 whereas now, I maybe wouldn't quite call myself a man, but definitely more so than four years ago.
“I look back to when I left Birmingham, and I just had no idea what was ahead.
“Four years ago, as Birmingham 2022 ended, I was naive and cocky, which is actually quite a good way to be when you're an athlete, but I feel like I've matured a lot in the past four years.
"If I could win a medal in Glasgow, I would be pretty astonished with myself, and I don't say that very often about myself.
“I'm very proud of what I've achieved since my diagnosis and so the astonishment would come from having dealt with all of that and ended the Commonwealth Games with a medal.
“For me, a PB would be fantastic and it would be internal validation of what I’ve achieved but a medal would be huge because it would be a symbol of everything that's happened to me over the last few years.”
.png?w=600)
