As the 2026 Commonwealth Games get underway, Hireup spoke to Col Pearse about the unspoken disappointment after reaching big goals, success beyond the pool, and his love for the Games.
Col Pearse hasn't swum his best race yet.
Not according to him, anyway.
Even after breaking an Oceania record and representing Australia on the world’s biggest stages, the two-time Paralympian says success rarely feels perfect.
“One thing people would be surprised to learn about life as an athlete is how extremely disappointed most athletes are when they do win,” Col says.
“Race day is all about coming first. It's all about winning. But if the race wasn't well executed or it wasn't a good time… we tend to beat ourselves up.”
For the 23-year-old from Echuca in regional Victoria, no matter the result, there’s always another race to analyse, another fraction of a second to chase.
His pursuit continues this year as he heads to the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where he’ll look to defend the men’s 100m butterfly S10 title he won in Birmingham in 2022. Since then, he’s added a Paralympic silver medal in Paris to the bronze he claimed in Tokyo.
Ask Col what it feels like to win gold for Australia and, despite his self-analysis, he doesn’t hesitate to say: “Amazing.”
“It's one of those feelings that it's hard to describe. There's that split second of catching your breath, turning around and hearing the crowd. It's hard to process. Amazing is genuinely the best word for it.”
Success out of the water
Well before he raced internationally, Col grew up racing almost exclusively against able-bodied swimmers.
“The proudest moment in my sporting career was winning a state gold medal and 100m butterfly in the Country Victoria Championships, which was a race full of all able-bodied athletes,” he says.
“It was [about] proving people's idea of me wrong.”
Between competitions, Col returns to regional Victoria to visit schools and communities, where he hopes to encourage children to see disability differently.
As someone with a prosthetic leg, Col says it’s very easy to show kids his disability – but he likes to go deeper, focusing on helping them understand and interact with people with disability better.
“Being a country boy, you do struggle to have an inspiration in sport that's someone you can relate to.”
“Obviously we've got many amazing athletes, but to be an inspiration for country kids with and without a disability is something that is success to me.”
“When kids come up to me and go, ‘I want to be like Col Pearse, I wish I had one foot’ [it] might be the craziest thing ever. But deep down, it's pretty cool to say that I've inspired someone who doesn't have a disability, who wishes they did, because they think someone like me is amazing.”
A shared legacy
As Col continues the pursuit of his best race in Glasgow, he reflects on the one thing that makes the Commonwealth Games unique. It remains one of the few major competitions where para and non-para athletes compete as one team. At the Commonwealth Games, every result contributes to a nation's medal tally in exactly the same way.
“Having all [the athletes] on the same team representing Australia at the same time, I think it's inspiring,” says Col.
“Carrying that torch now, it’s my responsibility to inspire not only people who have a disability, but also every Australian – because you can't be what you can't see.”
The 2026 Commonwealth Games officially begin at 5am on Friday, 24 July (AEST).
