Archie Goodburn returned to the same venue where he had watched the 2014 Commonwealth Games as a child. Twelve years later, the Scottish swimmer took his place on the starting blocks at Tollcross and received one of the loudest ovations of Glasgow 2026. He reached the men’s 50m breaststroke final, recorded the fastest reaction time and shared seventh place with Canada’s Oliver Dawson in 27.42 seconds. He also swam the breaststroke leg of the 4x100m medley relay as Scotland finished fifth. “The dream was to win a medal. That dream didn’t come true, but I know that I’m going to have memories to last a lifetime,” he said after completing his programme.
Goodburn’s experience of performing in front of crowds began long before his first international swimming competitions. He was born in Edinburgh in 2001 and, at the age of 12 or 13, sang ‘What a Wonderful World’ as a soloist at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo. He performed in front of around 10,000 people each night for approximately 20 shows and later returned to the production dressed as a Pict. At school, he was also part of a swimming team that travelled to London for the Bath Cup. “We went there with one mission: to win both races and break both records. We did it,” he recalled. The friendships formed during those years remain part of a life that soon began to revolve around training, education and competition.
From missing the Olympics to three brain tumours
His progression established him as one of the leading British breaststrokers of his generation. In 2019, he won bronze in the 50m breaststroke at the World Junior Championships and also reached the European junior podium. He later competed at Birmingham 2022, became British 50m breaststroke champion in 2023 and earned a medal at the European Short Course Championships. His next target was Paris 2024. During the build-up to the British Olympic trials, however, he began losing strength, experiencing numbness down his left side, nausea and intense episodes of déjà vu. “I felt like my consciousness was being pulled away from me,” he later explained.
Goodburn finished third in the 100m breaststroke at the British trials in April 2024, behind Adam Peaty and James Wilby, missing Olympic selection by fractions of a second. At the time, he did not know that the episodes affecting him during training were seizures. An MRI scan and biopsy in May revealed three deep oligodendrogliomas that were inoperable and incurable. Doctors initially proposed radiotherapy and chemotherapy and explained the seriousness of his condition. Six weeks after surgery, he returned to competition and won the 50m breaststroke at the Scottish National Open in 28.13 seconds. “My head’s a busy place at the moment. It was about racing the race for me,” he said afterwards.
A treatment that can buy time
Access to vorasidenib allowed him to postpone radiotherapy and chemotherapy. The drug inhibits a protein associated with the growth of certain gliomas and has stabilised his tumours, but Goodburn does not describe it as a cure. “Vorasidenib only bought me four years, according to the trials. I need more. And I’m not going to stop campaigning until my last breath,” he said. At the same time, he rebuilt his sporting performance and set a Scottish 50m breaststroke record of 27.12 seconds in February 2026. That progress enabled him to represent his country again at a major international competition in Glasgow.
His diagnosis also changed the direction of his academic work. Goodburn began studying Chemical Engineering at Loughborough University, but returned to Edinburgh after his first year to find a better balance between swimming and education. For his final research project, he examined the use of nanoparticles to deliver drugs for the treatment of brain cancer. In July 2026, just days before competing at Tollcross, he graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a first-class MEng in Chemical Engineering after seven years of study. Completing the degree was something he admitted he once thought he might never achieve. His partner, fellow Scottish swimmer Ciara Schlosshan, together with his family, friends and teammates, has formed the support network that has helped him maintain both paths.
The campaign Goodburn considers another treatment
His diagnosis led the swimmer to establish Brain Cancer Justice, a campaign calling for increased research into brain tumours and better access to treatments and clinical trials. Its proposals include the full use of public funding pledged for research, wider genomic sequencing, the appointment of a dedicated national lead and greater opportunities for patients to try experimental medicines. “I grew up representing my country, and I want to see my country supporting me back,” he said. Goodburn believes that his advocacy could also affect his own prognosis: “I campaign because of disparity in care and lack of funding, but also because I believe my campaigning can make a difference to my own future. In some ways, it’s a treatment of its own.”
In Glasgow, Goodburn was asked whether he was attending the Games as a professional athlete or as a patient advocate. “Both,” he replied. The 50m breaststroke will enter the Olympic programme for the first time at Los Angeles 2028, and qualification remains among his sporting ambitions. After the Commonwealth final, however, he placed another objective above any medal: helping brain cancer cease to be the biggest cancer killer of people under 40 in the United Kingdom. “I advocate to try and extend my own life, but also for the other young patients and adults going through what I’m going through.” They are the people he calls the ‘future Archies’.
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