DELHI, India, October 3. THE first day of long course meter finals is complete at the Commonwealth Games held in India.
Women's 200 free finals
Australia's Kylie Palmer grabbed the first title on offer for the 2010 Games with a time of 1:57.50. That matched her 12th-ranked season best from Pan Pacs in August in the world rankings. Wales' Jazmin Carlin claimed silver with a time of 1:58.29 to move to 25th in the world, while England's Rebecca Adlington rounded out the podium in 1:58.47.
Canada's Genevieve Saumur (1:58.50), England's Joanne Jackson (1:58.66), Australia's Blair Evans (1:58.83), New Zealand's Lauren Boyle (1:58.96) and Canada's Barbara Rojas-Jardin (2:00.76) completed the championship heat.
Men's 400 free finals
Canada's Ryan Cochrane had just enough in the tank to overtake Australia's Ryan Napoleon, 3:48.48 to 3:48.59, for the win in the middle distance event. Cochrane has been much faster this year with a seventh-ranked 3:46.78 from Pan Pacs, while Napoleon cleared 3:49 for the first time this year to move to 17th in the world rankings. Scotland's David Carry completed the podium with a third-place 3:50.06.
Wales' David Davies (3:50.52), South Africa's Mark Randall (3:50.87), Scotland's Robert Renwick (3:51.74), South Africa's Riaan Schoeman (3:53.85) and England's Richard Charlesworth (3:58.50) also swam in the finale.
Women's 200 IM finals
While many called for an Emily Seebohm/Hannah Miley showdown, Australia's Alicia Coutts pulled off a somewhat surprising Games-record victory with a time of 2:09.70. That swim crushed the 2:12.90 set by Stephanie Rice back in 2006, and jumped Coutts to the top of the world rankings. She now stands ninth all time, just clipping Katie Hoff's 2:09.71 from the 2008 U.S. Trials and also inside the previous drug-tainted world record of Wu Yanyan (2:09.72). Coutts also is the fastest swimmer ever in a textile suit.
Seebohm gave the Aussies a 1-2 finish with a 2:10.83, short of her previously top-ranked time of 2:09.93 from Pan Pacs. Canada's Julia Wilkinson placed third in 2:12.09, while New Zealand's Natalie Wiegersma touched fourth in 2:12.12 to down her national record of 2:12.38 set in April.
Miley (2:12.90), England's Aimee Willmott (2:15.38), Canada's Erica Morningstar (2:15.41) and England's Kate Hutchinson (2:15.75) comprised the rest of the finale finishes.
Men's 200 fly finals
South Africa's Chad Le Clos dominated the finale with a Games-record time of 1:56.48. He jumped to 15th in the world rankings with the effort, and eclipsed the 1:56.64 set by Moss Burmester in 2006. England's Michael Rock took second overall in 1:57.15 to take 24th in the rankings, while Canada's Stefan Hirniak placed third in 1:57.26 – missing his national record of 1:57.01 set during prelims.
Australia's Chris Wright (1:57.32), Australia's Jayden Hadler (1:57.37), England's Joseph Roebuck (1:57.44), England's Roberto Pavoni (1:58.13) and South Africa's Sebastien Rousseau (1:58.28) also swam in the championship field.
Men's 400 free relay finals
Australia's Kyle Richardson, Eamon Sullivan, Tommaso D'Orsogna and James Magnussen won the relay for the day with a Games-record 3:13.92. That time smashed the previous record of 3:14.97 set by South Africa in 2006. England's Simon Burnett, Liam Tancock, Grant Turner and Adam Brown took second in 3:15.05, while South Africa's Graeme Moore, Gideon Louw, Roland Schoeman and Darian Townsend placed third in 3:15.21.
Canada's Brent Hayden ledoff his team's fourth-place 3:17.99 with a Games-record time of 48.18, matching his third-ranked effort from Pan Pacs. Scotland (3:20.70), India (3:27.14), Northern Ireland (3:27.92) and Singapore (3:30.71) completed the finale.
Semifinals
Australia's Ashley Delaney led the way in the men's 50 back with a 25.04, just back from his eighth-ranked season best of 24.98. Hayden Stoeckel (25.27) and Daniel Arnamnart (25.39) also made the finale for Australia. Wales' Marco Loughran (25.43), New Zealand's Daniel Bell (25.44), England's Liam Tancock (25.62), New Zealand's Gareth Kean (25.87) and Canada's Charles Francis (26.20) also made the championship field.
Australia's Marieke Guehrer posted the first Games record of the meet with a 26.07 in the women's 50 fly semis. That performance beat Danni Miatke's 2006 standard of 26.42. Guehrer's been faster this year with a fifth-ranked 25.99 at Pan Pacs. Australia's Yolane Kukla qualified second in 26.22, while England's Fran Halsall (26.33), Australia's Emily Seebohm (26.62), Canada's Katerine Savard (26.96), Wales' Jemma Lowe (27.02) and Canada's MacKenzie Downing (27.12) also earned finals spots. England's Ellen Gandy and New Zealand's Hayley Palmer set up a swimoff for the final spot with matching 27.14s.
Australia's Leiston Pickett paced women's 50 breast semis with a 30.74 after clocking a 30.57 in prelims to move to third in the world rankings behind Jessica Hardy (30.03) and Yuliya Efimova (30.29). England's Kate Haywood (31.22) and Australia's Leisel Jones (31.29) placed second and third. England's Rebecca Ajulu-Bushell (31.47), Australia's Sarah Katsoulis (31.58), Canada's Annamay Pierse (32.07), Jamaica's Alia Atkinson (32.13) and Scotland's Kathryn Johnstone (32.31) also earned championship spots.