Lani Pallister won Australia’s first gold medal. Her coach’s reaction was curious

July 25, 2026 — 8:26am

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Glasgow: When Lani Pallister touched the wall to secure Australia’s first gold medal of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, coach Dean Boxall’s reaction on the pool deck could not have been more different from the animated celebration that followed Ariarne Titmus’ Olympic triumph in Tokyo.

Comparing a Commonwealth Games and Olympics is very apples and oranges, but the contrast in “Boxall Cam” was striking.

There was no smile on Friday evening (Saturday morning AEST). No clapping. Boxall simply disappeared down the tunnel.

That’s not to say Boxall wasn’t happy behind the scenes, but his immediate reaction in public view spoke volumes about the journey he and Pallister are on.

Pallister’s textbook victory in the opening event of the swimming program, winning the 400m freestyle in 3:59.56 ahead of New Zealand’s Erika Fairweather (4:02.65) and Australia’s Jenna Forrester (4:05.25), was the first individual longcourse gold medal of her senior international career after a roller-coaster journey through the sport.

It was also the first of Australia’s six gold medals on a dominant opening night in Glasgow, with Jenna Jones (women’s 100m freestyle S13), Forrester (women’s 200m backstroke), Alex Saffy (men’s 100m butterfly S10) and the Dolphins’ men’s and women’s 4x100m freestyle relay teams also claiming victories in a near-perfect start to their campaign.

But as significant as the breakthrough was for Pallister, it did not carry the........

© Brisbane Times