ISL Names Coaches of Commonwealth Team for Upcoming All-Star Match
The International Swimming League (ISL) has today announced the coaches of the Commonwealth Team, the first of the four teams that will contest the ISL All-Star Match at the London Aquatics Centre in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park on Saturday December 19, 2026.
The Commonwealth Team will be coached by Dean Boxall (Australia), Ben Higson (Scotland), Byron MacDonald (Canada) and Rocco Meiring (South Africa): four coaches from four Commonwealth nations on four continents, whose swimmers have won Olympic titles, world championships and set world records. They are the first coaches confirmed for the All-Star Match, in which the Commonwealth Team will face the United States, Europe and Intercontinental teams for the largest prize pool ever offered for a single night of competitive swimming.
Ben Allen, Commissioner of the International Swimming League, said: “The Commonwealth has produced some of the greatest names and nights swimming has seen, and this coaching staff belongs to that tradition. Byron, Dean, Ben and Rocco have coached Olympic champions and world-record holders, they know how to succeed on the biggest occasions, and two of them were part of the ISL’s original seasons. The first of our four teams is taking shape, and the names in the water will follow very soon.”
The Commonwealth Team’s first star athletes will be revealed very soon, with the coaches of the United States, Europe and Intercontinental Teams to be announced in the coming weeks.
Tickets for the All-Star Match go on general sale through Ticketmaster at midday (UK time) on Friday, 30 October, with fans who have pre-registered at isl.global receiving presale access from Thursday, 29 October.
The Commonwealth Team coaches
Byron MacDonald (Canada): Head coach of the University of Toronto, now in his 49th season, and Toronto Titans head coach in the league’s original run. A 1972 Olympian, double Commonwealth Games champion and two-time Gemini Award-winning broadcaster, MacDonald has sent 70-plus swimmers onto international teams and coached Kylie Masse to Olympic medals, a world title and a world record.
Dean Boxall (Australia): Head coach at St Peters Western in Brisbane and a record four-time Australian Coach of the Year. Boxall guided Ariarne Titmus to back-to-back Olympic 400m freestyle titles and Mollie O’Callaghan to 200m freestyle gold at Paris 2024, where his swimmers featured in four of Australia’s seven swimming gold medals and 12 of its 18 pool medals.
Ben Higson (Scotland): Head coach of the University of Stirling’s high-performance programme, where his earlier group included Duncan Scott and Ross Murdoch. Higson has coached at three Olympic Games for three different nations (Great Britain, Ireland and Australia), led Swim Ireland’s national programme and the Western Australian Institute of Sport, and was part of London Roar’s coaching set-up in the ISL’s original seasons.
Rocco Meiring (South Africa): Head of programme and head coach of TuksSwimming at the University of Pretoria, Meiring coached Tatjana Smith to Olympic breaststroke gold at both Tokyo and Paris, and five of South Africa’s eight swimmers at the Paris Games. His group’s recent successes include Pieter Coetzé’s 2025 world 100m backstroke title, and his 50m backstroke short-course world record, set this month.
The above press release was provided to Swimming World by the ISL.
