Each day through July 23, Swimming World will offer medal predictions in the 19 swimming events on tap at the Commonwealth Games, which begins July 24 in Glasgow, Scotland. We invite you to offer your picks in our Reaction Time comments section below!
Commentary by Jeff Commings
PHOENIX, Arizona, July 5. THE star of this year’s swimming competition at the Commonwealth Games will be Chad Le Clos. The South African’s star has risen dramatically since he won this event at the 2010 event with a 1:56.48. He would overtake Michael Phelps in the final stroke to win gold at the 2012 Olympics, and follow that up with a win at the 2013 world championships.
No Commonwealth swimmer stands a chance in dethroning Le Clos this year. Grant Irvine is going into the meet as the second-fastest with a time that’s two seconds slower than Le Clos has done in 2014. Count on Le Clos to go faster, though this time he’ll have to do it with a body-length lead. That will be a little different for Le Clos, who has had some tough battles in the past two years.
Will this be a 1-2 sweep for South Africa? Dylan Bosch could likely improve on his 1:56.92 from the South African trials, since that swim came just a couple of weeks after his amazing performances at the NCAA championships in the United States. Bosch’s NCAA record swim in the 200-yard fly likely gave him the confidence to race his compatriot and give a boost to South Africa’s medal count.
Men’s 200 fly medal prediction
Gold: Chad Le Clos, South Africa
Silver: Dylan Bosch, South Africa
Bronze: Grant Irvine, Australia
On the women’s side, Ellen Gandy will wear the Australian cap for the first time at an international meet since switching sport nationalities from Great Britain to her longtime home Down Under. Gandy won bronze in this event in 2010 for England, and with gold medalist Jessicah Schipper now retired the race is up for grabs. Canadian Audrey Lacroix won silver in 2010, so the two will be looking to see who gets the best medal upgrade.
Katerine Savard is having a great year, though she will be more of a medal contender in the 100 fly. And Jemma Lowe continues to shine, so the bronze medal fight will be very close.
Women’s 200 fly medal prediction:
Gold: Ellen Gandy, Australia
Silver: Audrey Lacroix, Canada
Bronze: Jemma Lowe, Wales