GLASGOW, Scotland, July 28. THE Aussies kept piling it on at the Commonwealth Games with another impressive preliminary session here in Glasgow.
Women’s 800 freestyle swimoff
In a swimoff for the second alternate position in tonight’s finals, Emma Robinson of New Zealand took down Scotland’s Aisha Thornton, 8:41.94 to 8:42.85.
Men’s 200 back
The Aussies went 1-2-4 in prelims in the backstroke event with Mitch Larkin (1:57.44) and Matson Lawson (1:57.79) leading the way in the 1:57 range. Josh Beaver, meanwhile, took fourth for the Aussies with a 1:58.34. All three have been much faster this year with Larkin (1:55.26), Lawson (1:56.35) and Beaver (1:56.83) all ranking in the top 10 in the world. New Zealand’s Corey Main also turned in a 1:57.86 for third overall to round out the top end of the seeds heading to finals.
Here are your finalists:
Australia’s Mitch Larkin – 1:57.44
Australia’s Matson Lawson – 1:57.79
New Zealand’s Corey Main – 1:57.86
Australia’s Josh Beaver – 1:58.34
Scotland’s Ryan Bennett – 1:59.44
Canada’s Russell Wood – 1:59.92
Scotland’s Craig McNally – 2:00.00
Wales’ Xavier Mohammed – 2:01.04
Men’s 50 free
The Aussie train kept rolling in the men’s splash-and-dash with another 1-2-4 of qualifying. Cameron McEvoy (22.04), Matt Abood (22.09) and James Magnussen (22.33) snagged three of the top four spots in the semifinals, with the likelihood of posting even faster swims in semis. All three have gone faster this year with top 15 times from McEvoy (21.97), Abood (21.87) and Magnussen (21.77). England’s Ben Proud, meanwhile, qualified third in 22.21. Notably, South Africa’s Brad Tandy made semis after an unfortunate disqualification in the 50 breaststroke yesterday. He dislocated his shoulder during the start, and was disqualified when he popped his shoulder back in during his swim.
Here are your semifinalists:
Australia’s Cameron McEvoy – 22.04
Australia’s Matt Abood – 22.09
England’s Ben Proud – 22.21
Australia’s James Magnussen – 22.33
Trinidad and Tobago’s George Bovell – 22.37
South Africa’s Roland Schoeman – 22.54
Scotland’s Richard Schafers – 22.54
England’s Adam Brown – 22.66
Bermuda’s Roy Burch – 22.68
South Africa’s Brad Tandy – 22.78
Cayman Islands’ Brett Fraser – 22.79
Canada’s Yuri Kisil – 22.87
Guernsey’s Miles Munro – 22.94
England’s James Disney-May – 23.04
Mauritius’ Bradley Vincent – 23.20
Ireland’s Curtis Coulter – 23.23
Women’s 50 back
Wales’ Georgia Davies popped the first Games record of the morning with a time of 27.90 in the sprint backstroke qualifying heats. That’s just off her third-ranked season best of 27.80 from the Flanders Cup. Tonight, she will be looking for the top two times in the world currently held by Fu Yuanhui (27.51) and Mie Nielsen (27.76).
Australia’s Emily Seebohm placed second in 28.03, off her fifth-ranked 27.95, while England’s Lauren Quigley snared the third seed in 28.39. Quigley has cleared 28 seconds this year with a fourth-ranked 27.90.
Here are your semifinalists:
Wales’ Georgia Davies – 27.90
Australia’s Emily Seebohm – 28.03
England’s Lauren Quigley – 28.39
Scotland’s Kathleen Dawson – 28.56
Australia’s Madi Wilson – 28.60
Canada’s Brooklyn Snodgrass – 28.80
England’s Ellie Simmonds – 29.00
Australia’s Belinda Hocking – 29.01
Singapore’s Li Tao – 29.11
Canada’s Hilary Caldwell – 29.31
England’s Jessica Fullalove – 29.43
Cayman Islands’ Lauren Hew – 30.55
Fiji’s Caroline Puamau – 30.73
Ireland’s Danielle Hill – 30.77
Isle of Man’s Niamh Robinson – 31.03
Sri Lanka’s Kimiko Raheem – 31.14
Men’s 200 IM SM8
England’s Oliver Hynd led the morning heats with a 2:26.94. He has some time to make up if he intends on challenging Peter Leek’s world record of 2:20.92 from the 2008 Beijing Paralympics. Australia’s Jesse Aungles took second in 2:31.97 with Australia’s Blake Cochrane earning third in 2:34.83.
Women’s 200 fly
The women’s flyers were a bit conservative this morning with Australia’s Madeline Groves clocking the top time in 2:08.51. She’s been two seconds faster with a fourth-ranked 2:06.81 to her credit this year. Wales’ Jemma Lowe finished second in 2:09.28, while Canada’s Audrey Lacroix snatched third in 2:09.58.
Scotland’s Hannah Miley has found her inner-Katinka Hosszu as the Scottish Iron Lady claimed her sixth finals spot of the meet. The 400 IM victory clocked a 2:11.06 to make the 200 fly finale, and will have an unreal double tonight with the 800 free and 200 fly.
Here are your finalists:
Australia’s Madeline Groves – 2:08.51
Wales’ Jemma Lowe – 2:09.28
Canada’s Audrey Lacroix – 2:09.58
England’s Aimee Willmott – 2:09.60
Australia’s Ellen Gandy – 2:09.96
Wales’ Alys Thomas – 2:11.03
Scotland’s Hannah Miley – 2:11.06
Canada’s Katerine Savard – 2:11.31
Men’s 1500 free
In what could be a sign of things to come, Canada’s Ryan Cochrane and Scotland’s Stephen Milne put on a show in the final heat with Cochrane clipping the Scot 15:03.29 to 15:03.38. The crowd was on its feet throughout the close race, with Milne providing a stunner as he dropped his lifetime best down from a 15:15. Cochrane has been a bit faster this year already with a 10th-ranked 15:01.72 from Canadian Nationals and could be clearing 15:00 tomorrow.
Here are your finalists:
Canada’s Ryan Cochrane – 15:03.29
Scotland’s Stephen Milne – 15:03.38
Wales’ Daniel Jervis – 15:06.60
Australia’s Mack Horton – 15:08.43
South Africa’s Devon Brown – 15:10.87
England’s Daniel Fogg – 15:10.88
Australia’s Jordan Harrison – 15:10.88
England’s Jay Lelliott – 15:11.89
When available, full results will be here: http://results.glasgow2014.com/dailyschedule.html?day=20140728&sport=SW