--- title: "Lani Pallister wins 1500m freestyle at Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games; first-ever 1500m title at Commonwealth Games" sdDatePublished: "2026-07-28T16:09:00Z" source: "https://www.olympics.com/en/news/lani-pallister-exclusive-highlighter-mistake-katie-ledecky" topics: - name: "sport" identifier: "medtop:15000000" - name: "sport achievement" identifier: "medtop:20001301" - name: "sport event" identifier: "medtop:20001108" - name: "human interest" identifier: "medtop:08000000" locations: - "Paris" - "United States" - "Auckland" - "Australia" - "Adelaide" - "Glasgow" - "Seoul" --- Lani Pallister wins 1500m freestyle at Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games; first-ever 1500m title at Commonwealth Games Lani Pallister: Commonwealth Games 2026 champion on the highlighter mistake that launched her career Lani Pallister: Commonwealth Games 2026 champion on the highlighter mistake that launched her career A highlighter slip in 2017 sent Lani Pallister down the distance path. Speaking to the media at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, the Australian reveals the accidental start to her distance career, the Ledecky mindset she's adopted, and the family behind it all. Lani Pallister was never supposed to be a distance swimmer . The 24-year-old Australian, who races the women's 800m freestyle final at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games tonight (Tuesday 28 July), grew up swimming butterfly, idolising Olympic champion Jessicah Schipper and four-time World Cup gold medallist Chris Wright . "My mum, when she was still coaching me, gave me the program and said, 'Highlight what events you want to swim,'" Pallister told media, including Olympics.com in Glasgow. "I thought I'd highlighted the 100 butterfly, but the 800 freestyle was actually the event straight after it. I just highlighted the wrong one — and made my first junior team." The accident kept compounding. "They made me time trial a 1500, because I was going the whole way to the USA to swim just one 800 — so why not do a 1500 too? That was in 2017, and I've just rolled on with it ever since." Nine years later, the wrong event has become her signature. Already an Olympic champion, having been part of the Australian 4x200m freestyle relay team that set an Olympic record of 7:38.08 en route to gold at Paris 2024 , Pallister is fresh from winning the first-ever women's 1500m freestyle title at a Commonwealth Games – her second gold of Glasgow 2026. Her personal best of 15:39.14, set at the 2025 Australian Trials in Adelaide, makes her the fourth-fastest woman in history over 30 laps — a list headed, of course, by nine-time Olympic gold medallist Katie Ledecky . The U.S. swimming legend's influence on Pallister stretches beyond the record books. "Katie has said it in a number of speeches, when she's spoken at Stanford, that she's the type of athlete that wants to push herself and isn't looking at other people and comparing herself to other people," Pallister said. "I think that's what's made her the greatest distance swimmer of all time. That's something I really idolise about her — she is able to do her own thing and push the boundary because she wants to do it, not because she feels obligated. "I've kind of taken that approach... I'm really happy with the progress I've had in the last 18 months." "The Australian media talks about [the pressure] a lot," she admitted. "Normally I'm quite chatty and sit with the girls in the marshalling room, and I feel like I've been quite reserved this week. Part of it is wanting to do the Australian public proud, but also put together a week that I know I'm capable of." Pallister celebrates after winning the gold medal during the Women's 1500m Freestyle at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games. Distance swimming may have been an accident, but fast was always in Pallister's blood. Her mother and long-time coach Janelle — a Seoul 1988 Olympian and Auckland 1990 Commonwealth Games gold medallist — handed her that fateful program. Her father Rick was a champion surf lifesaver and ironman. "My dad swam the 200 butterfly when he was young and could have been a really good pool swimmer, but he said lifesaving was more fun," she said. "I grew up racing back-to-back 400s at the beach every second weekend, and I think that's why it's made me such a great pool swimmer. He sends me messages every morning. "They're two of the most incredible and influential people in my life. Without them I wouldn't be here as a person, and without their influence I would not be the person I am today. As for today's morning message from Dad? Olympics.com asked. "Love you — with a full stop after it." One more famous voice completes the support network: godmother and four-time Olympic champion Dawn Fraser . "Dawn normally picks up the phone to call, and my SIM's not working, but I get messages relayed through my mum, which is special." Pallister with her godmother Dawn Fraser. Lani Pallister chases Commonwealth distance triple history Tonight (28 July), attention turns to the 800m — the event she picked by mistake and made her own. Having already won the 2026 Commonwealth titles in the 400m and 1500m (which made its Games debut this year), Pallister will attempt to be the first person to win the distance triple at the Commonwealth Games. "The 1500 complements the 800, as does the 400 — having speed and also distance capabilities definitely makes racing the 800 easier," she said. "I got to 1,000 metres [in the 1500m] and felt pretty good. I'm excited to come in and have a crack at a good 800." The wrong highlight, it turns out, keeps producing the right results. By Will Imbo Grace Goulding