DELHI, India, October 6. THE third day of long course meter finals is complete at the Commonwealth Games held in India.
Men's 200 back finals
England's James Goddard started off the evening with a swift time in the event. He clocked a Games-record effort of 1:55.58 to move to fourth in the world rankings. That performance crushed the previous record of 1:58.65 set by Gregor Tait in 2006. New Zealand's Gareth Kean popped a 1:57.37 to secure a silver medal, bettering his 14th-ranked season best of 1:57.78 from Junior Pan Pacs. He now moves up to a ninth-place tie with Benjamin Stasiulis in the rankings. Australia's Ashley Delaney rounded out the podium with a time of 1:58.18, short of his now 16th-ranked season best of 1:57.78.
England's Christopher Walker-Hebborn (1:59.00), Canada's Charles Francis (2:00.07), Wales' Marco Loughran (2:00.11), Canada's Tobias Oriwol (2:00.24) and England's Ryan Bennett (2:01.86) also competed for the title.
Women's 100 free finals
Australia's Alicia Coutts continued her breakout meet with her second gold-medal winning performance. After clocking the fastest swim in a textile suit in the 200 IM on day one, she returned with a triumphant 54.09 in the 100 free tonight. The time tied her with Femke Heemskerk for ninth in the world rankings this year. Australian teammate Emily Seebohm captured silver with a 54.30, while England's Fran Halsall earned third in 54.57.
New Zealand's Hayley Palmer (54.68), England's Amy Smith (54.91), Canada's Victoria Poon (55.04), New Zealand's Natasha Hind (55.44) and England's Emma Saunders (56.17) comprised the rest of the championship heat.
ParaSport Men's S9 50 free finals
Australia's Matthew Cowdrey clipped his own world record with a winning time of 25.33. That swim beat his 2008 mark of 25.34, set at the Beijing Paralympics, by the slimmest of margins. He also smashed his Games record of 25.66 set during qualifying this year. England's Simon Miller finished second in 26.70, while India's Prasanta Karmakar took third in 27.48.
Australia's Benjamin Austin (27.53), Australia's Blake Cochrane (27.68), Scotland's Sean Fraser (28.63), Northern Ireland's Laurence McGivern (28.95) and India's Sachin Verma (29.37) also swam in the finale.
Women's 200 breast finals
Australia's Leisel Jones captured her third straight title in the event with a 2:25.38, defending her previous victories in 2002 and 2006. Teammate Tessa Wallace placed second overall in 2:25.60, while Sarah Katsoulis completed the Aussie podium sweep with a third-place 2:25.92.
Canada's Martha McCabe finished fourth in 2:26.46, while teammate and world-record holder Annamay Pierse fell back to fifth overall in 2:27.21. England's Stacey Tadd (2:28.48), Scotland's Hannah Miley (2:30.20) and Scotland's Kerry Buchan (2:31.18) rounded out the championship field.
Men's 50 fly finals
Kenya's Jason Dunford became the first swimmer from his country to win Commonwealth gold with a 23.35 to move to sixth in the world rankings. Meanwhile, Australia's Geoff Huegill placed second in 23.37 after staging a remarkable comeback from retirement, including the third-ranked time of 23.27 from Pan Pacs. South Africa's Roland Schoeman completed the podium with a 23.44, just off his now seventh-ranked time of 23.39.
Australia's Mitchell Patterson (23.65), Papau New Guinea's Ryan Pini (23.88), England's Antony James (24.29), India's Virdhawal Khade (24.61) and Scotland's Andrew Mayor (24.63) also vied for the title.
Women's 100 back finals
Australia's Emily Seebohm became the first woman in Games history to break 1:00 with a meet-record time of 59.79. She lowered her qualifying Games record of 1:00.28, but fell well short of her second-ranked season best of 59.21 from March. England's Gemma Spofforth nearly cleared 1:00 herself with a second-place 1:00.02, while Canada's Julia Wilkinson picked up a podium spot with a third-place 1:00.74.
Australia's Sophie Edington (1:00.81), Australia's Belinda Hocking (1:00.81), Wales' Georgia Davies (1:01.05), New Zealand's Melissa Ingram (1:01.14) and Canada's Sinead Russell (1:01.42) comprised the rest of the finale.
Men's 100 breast finals
South Africa's Cameron van der Burgh turned on the jet when it counted with a Games-record time of 1:00.10. He downed Christian Sprenger's qualifying record of 1:00.45, and moved to fourth in the world rankings with the effort. Sprenger, meanwhile, placed second in 1:00.29, but could not replicate his sixth-ranked season best of 1:00.18. Australia's Brenton Rickard completed the podium with a 1:00.46.
Scotland's Michael Jamieson (1:00.60), Canada's Scott Dickens (1:00.98), New Zealand's Glenn Snyders (1:01.39), Scotland's Kristopher Gilchrist (1:01.43) and England's Daniel Sliwinski (1:01.68) earned fourth through eighth in the finale.
Women's 800 free relay finals
Australia's Kylie Palmer, Blair Evans, Bronte Barratt and Meagen Nay raced to a Games-record victory in 7:53.71. That swim beat the 7:56.08 set by Australia back in 2006. New Zealand's Lauren Boyle, Penelope Marshall, Amaka Gessler and Natasha Hind placed second in 7:57.46, while England's Joanne Jackson, Rebecca Adlington, Emma Saunders and Sasha Matthews finished third in 7:58.61.
Canada (7:58.92), Scotland (8:06.85), Wales (8:08.50), Northern Ireland (8:13.02) and India (8:56.59) completed the top eight.
Men's 800 free relay finals
Australia swept the distance relays as Thomas Fraser-Holmes, Nicholas Ffrost, Ryan Napoleon and Kenrick Monk touched in 7:10.29. They cleared the Games record of 7:11.69 set by the Aussies back in 2002. Scotland's Andrew Hunter, David Carry, Jak Scott and Robert Renwick took second in 7:14.02, while South Africa's Jean Basson, Darian Townsend, Jan Venter and Chad Le Clos placed third in 7:14.18.
Canada (7:14.63), England (7:16.57), Malaysia (7:43.53) and India (7:46.18) also swam in the championship heat.
Semifinals
Australia's Eamon Sullivan (48.66) paced semis of the men's 100 free, falling just short of his ninth-ranked season best of 48.52, while Canada's Brent Hayden (48.74) finished second overall. Hayden, however, has demonstrated plenty of speed with a Games-record 48.18 as Canada's 400 free relay leadoff on the first day. South Africa's Gideon Louw (49.28), England's Simon Burnett (49.40), Australia's Tommaso D'Orsogna (49.52), South Africa's Graeme Moore (49.53), Australia's Kyle Richardson (49.60) and England's Adam Brown (49.65) grabbed the other transfer spots into the finale.
England's Ellen Gandy led the way in the women's 100 fly with a time of 58.24. That moved her up to 13th in the world rankings. Wales' Jemma Lowe finished second in 58.44 to grab 17th in the rankings, while Australia's Alicia Coutts put herself in position for a third gold with a third-place 58.46 to pick up 18th in the rankings. Australia's Felicity Galvez (58.61), Canada's Audrey Lacroix (59.09), Australia's Yolane Kukla (59.14), England's Jessica Sylvester (59.33) and Canada's Katerine Savard (59.46) also made finals.