Holmfirth sisters Astrid and Ursula Carroll competed against one another in the Commonwealth Games for different countries with one pipping the other by just a fraction of a second.

The teenagers both have visual impairment and swam in the para events in the competition held in Glasgow, getting through to two finals.

They have Stargardt’s disease, a rare, inherited eye condition sparked by a faulty gene that degrades the central part of the eye causing progressive loss of central vision, usually starting in childhood or young adulthood.

Astrid, 17, qualifies for Scotland as she was born in Edinburgh while 14-year-old Ursula swims for England.

They went head-to-head in two races which is unusual as they usually swim in different classifications as Ursula’s eyesight is better than Astrid’s.

They were in the S13 100m freestyle final with Ursula narrowly edging out Astrid by just 0.14 of a second. They finished sixth and seventh in that race with Ursula doing it in 105.24 seconds and Astrid in 105.38 seconds.

They swam side-be-side in lanes one and two.

In the S13 50m freestyle race Ursula came fifth in a time of 29.3 seconds with Astrid seventh in 30.2 seconds.

Ursula was quick to praise Astrid for swimming so strongly in a different classification, especially as she did a personal best with her front crawl.

Ursula said: “I don’t really regard it as winning as it was a fantastic achievement by Astrid to swim in this classification and reach the final. It was just wonderful for us to be swimming competitively alongside one another.

“It was a really special experience competing in the Commonwealth Games as I’d looked up to many of my team from when I was younger and seen them on TV, so it was wonderful to meet them in person.’’

The sisters were with their different teams in Glasgow and Astrid said that, as she swims for Scotland, the home crowd massively got behind her and all the Scottish competitors.

“The crowd were absolutely amazing and made so much noise it was crazy,’’ she said.

Astrid and Ursula’s parents are Rob Carroll and Lucy Ingham and they also have a 10-year-old brother, Otto.

Astrid is on the GB Podium Potential Programme which is designed to identify and develop athletes who show realistic potential of winning medals at future Olympic or Paralympic Games.

In 2025 she won the 100m breaststroke silver and 100m backstroke bronze in the para-swimming World Championships in Singapore.

Astrid decided to swim for Scotland after meeting several Scots on the programme and was eligible as Lucy and Rob were living in Scotland when she was born.

Ursula was born after they moved down to Holmfirth in 2012 to be nearer family.

Both girls are now members of Stockport Metro Swimming Club which is one of the most acclaimed coaching and competitive swimming programmes in Great Britain.

Meanwhile, a teenage swimmer born without a left hand who battled through illness to clinch a place at the Commonwealth Games reached two swimming finals.

Borough of Kirklees swimmer Evie Lambert (above), 18, trains every day at Huddersfield Leisure Centre and competed in the 100m freestyle and the 200m individual medley in the para events.

She came sixth in the 100m freestyle and eighth in the 200m, improving on her 200m heat time by four seconds and it was the best time she has recorded this season.

Mum Sally said: “I’m so super proud of Evie. It’s been an amazing experience to end the swimming calendar year.’’

Evie has been Borough of Kirklees’ outstanding swimmer three years in a row and was the coaches’ champion in 2026.

Evie was born without a left hand due to amniotic band syndrome, a condition that only affects 1,200 live births worldwide.

The condition is where string-like fibres wrap around limbs in the womb, cutting off the blood supply.

Although she was ill for a few months with glandular fever, she still managed to quality for Team England.

Evie, who has previously held the British record for the 100m freestyle, has just completed her A-Levels at Brighouse High School sixth form and is now going to specialist sports university Loughborough to do a psychology degree.

Written by ANDY HIRST who runs his own Yorkshire freelance journalism agency AH! PR (https://ah-pr.com/) specialising in press releases, blogging, website content, copywriting and ghost-writing autobiographies.