GLASGOW, Scotland, July 28. PLENTY of amazing swims went up on the scoreboard tonight, but South Africa’s Chad le Clos skyrocketed to the top of the world in the 100 fly as he threw down the gauntlet in the event at the Commonwealth Games.
FINALS
Men’s 200 back
Australia earned its second standard division podium sweep of the meet as the 200 backstrokers joined the 100 freestylers to earn all three medals. Mitch Larkin raced his way to a win in 1:55.83, half-a-second off his fourth-ranked season best of 1:55.26 from the Australian Nationals. Australia had not won this event at the Commonwealth Games since Brad Cooper stood atop the podium in 1974.
Josh Beaver clinched silver with a 1:56.19 to move to sixth in the world rankings, while Matson Lawson took third overall in 1:56.63. Lawson has been a bit faster this year with a seventh-ranked 1:56.35 from the Australian Nationals as well.
New Zealand’s Corey Main (1:57.79), Scotland’s Craig McNally (1:58.27), Scotland’s Ryan Bennett (1:58.45), Canada’s Russell Wood (1:59.32) and Wales’ Xavier Mohammed (1:59.65) all cleared 2:00 to round out the rest of the championship heat.
Women’s 800 free
Wales’ Jazz Carlin raced her way to a season-best and Games record time of 8:18.11 as she pulled away down the stretch from a close race with New Zealand’s Lauren Boyle. Carlin’s time beat her Welsh record of 8:18.36 from British Nationals, but is still seven seconds shy of Katie Ledecky’s mind-boggling world record 8:11.00 from earlier this year. Yesterday, Carlin blasted a 36-year-old Games record that Tracey Wickham set back in 1978. Tonight, she pushed that record ever further.
Boyle, meanwhile, snared silver in 8:20.59 to drop plenty of time from her fourth-ranked 8:22.93 from the French Open this year. She’s still fourth in the world this year behind Jessica Ashwood’s 8:19.76. Canada’s Brittany MacLean clinched bronze in 8:20.91 to move to fifth in the world rankings, crushing her Canadian record of 8:24.91 from the Canadian Swimming Trials in April.
Australia’s Alanna Bowles (8:24.74), Scotland’s Hannah Miley (8:28.15), Ashwood (8:29.32), Scotland’s Camilla Hattersley (8:33.83) and Australia’s Laura Crockart (8:41.64) also swam in the championship finale.
Men’s 200 IM SM8
It might not have been a world record, but England’s Oliver Hynd picked up the Games title with a 2:22.86 in the Paralympic event this evening. Peter Leek’s 2008 record of 2:20.92 from the Paralympics that year still remained unscathed. Australia’s Jesse Aungles (2:31.25) and Blake Cochrane (2:32.72) finished second and third in the event. India’s Sharath Gayakwad (2:37.17) and Sri Lanka’s Amila Kumarasiri (3:17.10) also competed in the event.
Women’s 100 breast
England’s Sophie Taylor bested her British record by a wide margin with a 1:06.35 for the victory. That performance wiped out her 1:07.08 from British Championships earlier this year, and vauled her to fourth in the world rankings. Only Ruta Meilutyte (1:05.63), Kanako Watanabe (1:05.88) and Rikke Moeller Pedersen (1:06.19) have been faster this year.
Australia’s Lorna Tonks took home the silver medal with a 1:07.34, just off her 12th-ranked 1:07.26 from Australian Nationals, while Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson could not replicate her semifinal swim of 1:06.87 as she settled for bronze in 1:08.14.
Australia’s Sally Hunter (1:08.26), Australia’s Leiston Pickett (1:08.46), Canada’s Tera Van Beilen (1:08.58), Canada’s Kierra Smith (1:08.83) and Scotland’s Katie Armitage (1:09.56) comprised the rest of the finale field.
Women’s 200 fly
Canada’s Audrey Lacroix had too much for the rest of the field in the final 25 meters as she put up a 2:07.61 to win the longer distance butterfly event. That swim moved her up to an eighth-ranked tie with compatriot Katerine Savard in the world rankings. Lacroix and Savard are the top Canadians in the event this year.
England’s Aimee Willmott, one of the local favorites, took silver in 2:08.07. That just missed her 12th-ranked 2:07.97 from British Nationals. Australia’s Madeline Groves, who stands fourth in the world with a 2:06.81 from the NSW State Championships earlier this year, took third in 2:08.44.
Wales’ Alys Thomas (2:08.62) and Jemma Lowe (2:08.69) took fourth and fifth in the finale, while Scotland’s Hannah Miley picked up sixth with a 2:09.32 on the back end of an 800 free/200 fly double. One has to wonder whether Miley could have medaled by scratching one swim for the other.
Australia’s Ellen Gandy (2:09.51) and Canada’s Savard (2:12.81) also battled in the finale.
Men’s 50 breast
World-record holder Cameron van der Burgh of South Africa touched out England’s Adam Peaty, 26.76 to 26.78, for the victory in the sprint breaststroke. The swim for van der Burgh came up just short of Christian Sprenger’s textile best and world-leading 26.74 from Australian Nationals as he gets ever closer to his world record of 26.67. The win for van der Burgh defends his title from Delhi in 2010.
Peaty, meanwhile, blasted his British record of 26.99 from semis with his time as he moves up the all time list. He now stands fourth in the all-time rankings behind van der Burgh and Sprenger as well as Felipe Silva (26.76). Sprenger, who has been fighting with a shoulder injury all week, took bronze in 27.46.
Scotland’s Mark Tully (27.47), New Zealand’s Glenn Snyders (27.53), Scotland’s Ross Murdoch (27.65), Scotland’s Jo Welstead (27.99) and Canada’s Richard Funk (28.21) also swum in the finale.
Women’s 100 free
Australia’s Cate Campbell toyed with the world record after going out in 25.01, well under world-record pace, but settled for a Games record time of 52.68. That swim matched Campbell’s world-leading effort of 52.68 from Australian Nationals.
Comparative splits:
Campbell, 25.01, 52.68 (27.67)
WR Britta Steffen, 25.46, 52.07 (26.61)
Campbell will take a run at Steffen’s world record again during the Pan Pacific Championships, but it is obvious that it is going to take a huge final 50 meters to accomplish that feat.
Campbell led Australia’s third standard division medal sweep, and second of the night, as Bronte took silver in 52.86 to better her third-ranked season best of 53.02. Emma McKeon took third in 53.61.
England’s Fran Halsall (53.99), Bahamas’ Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace (54.37), Canada’s Victoria Poon (55.15), Canada’s Sandrine Mainville (55.15) and Canada’s Alyson Ackman (55.47) also turned in swims in the championship finale.
Men’s 100 fly
South Africa’s Chad le Clos captured his second gold of the meet with a blistering time of 51.29 in the event. That swim smashed the Games record, and vaulted him to the top of the world this year. Viacheslav Prudnikov had been atop the rankings with a 51.60 from Russian Nationals, but le Clos did not play around with his time tonight.
Singapore’s Joseph Schooling had a career swim with a 51.69 to crush his national record of 52.22 from earlier in the meet. Tonight’s time matched the old meet record, and moved him up to fourth in the world. Schooling is just off of Michael Phelps’ 51.67 from the Bulldog Grand Slam this year as Schooling continues to round into international-meet form. England’s Adam Barrett picked up third in the finale with a 51.93 to break 52 seconds for the first time this year.
Australia’s Jayden Hadler (52.42), Australia’s Tomasso D’Orsogna (52.45), England’s James Guy (52.63), Kenya’s Jason Dunford (52.71) and Australia’s Christopher Wright (52.88). comprised the rest of the finale.
SEMIFINALS
Men’s 50 free
England’s Ben Proud crushed the splash-and-dash semifinals with a British and Games record time of 21.76 in the second of two semis. That swim cleared his previous British record of 21.86 set in May at the ASA South West Championships, and vaulted him to seventh in the world rankings, just ahead of James Magnussen’s 21.77 from the Australian Nationals.
Australia’s Cameron McEvoy was the only other swimmer to break 22 with a 21.94 for the second seed. That’s his season best, clearing the 21.97 from Australian Nationals. Australia’s Matt Abood won the first semifinal with a 22.07, and he’s been under 22 this year with a 21.87 from Australian Nationals as well.
Here are your finalists:
England’s Ben Proud – 21.76
Australia’s Cameron McEvoy – 21.94
Australia’s Matt Abood – 22.07
Trinidad and Tobago’s George Bovell – 22.22
Australia’s James Magnussen – 22.23
South Africa’s Roland Schoeman – 22.26
South Africa’s Brad Tandy – 22.34
England’s Adam Brown – 22.55
Women’s 50 back
Wales’ Georgia Davies had an incredible evening with a scorching time of 27.61 in the second of two semifinals. That’s a British record, lowering her own mark of 27.80 from the Flanders Cup back in January of this year. She also leapt in front of Mie Nielsen for second in the world, bettering Nielsen’s 27.76. Her only target in finals now is Fu Yuanhui’s world-leading 27.51 from Chinese Nationals.
A total of three swimmers cleared the 28 second mark with England’s Lauren Quigley posting a 27.72 to stand fourth in the world, while Australia’s Emily Seebohm turned in a 27.89 for fifth in the world rankings.
Here are your finalists:
Wales’s Georgia Davis – 27.61
England’s Lauren Quigley – 27.72
Australia’s Emily Seebohm – 27.89
Canada’s Brooklynn Snodgrass – 28.25
Australia’s Madi Wilson – 28.40
Scotland’s Kathleen Dawson – 28.55
England’s Elizabeth Simmonds – 28.63
Australia’s Belinda Hocking – 28.87
When available, full results will be here: http://results.glasgow2014.com/dailyschedule.html?day=20140728&sport=SW