2018 Commonwealth Games: Day 2 Prelims Live Recap

2018 COMMONWEALTH GAMES

• Thursday, April 5th – Tuesday, April 10th (swimming)
• Optus Aquatic Centre, Gold Coast, Australia
• Prelims at 10:30am local (8:30pm previous night EDT)
• Finals at 7:30pm local (5:30am EDT)
• Official Commonwealth Games website
• Entries
• Meet Schedule + Results
• Live Stream (Canada)
• Live Stream (US)
• Live Stream (Australia)

The second day of the 2018 Commonwealth Games will feature prelims of the 50 free, 100 back, and S9 100 back for the women, and the 200 free, 100 breast, 400 IM, S8/S9 100 free, and the 4×100 free relay for the men.

Two of this morning’s races will feature the event’s world record holder swimming in lane four of the final heat, with England’s Adam Peaty holding the top seed in the 100 breast, and Canada’s Kylie Masse the top-seeded swimmer in the 100 back.

Men’s 200 Free Prelims

• CG Record: 1:44.71, Ian Thorpe (AUS), 2002

Top 8:

1. Duncan Scott, Scotland, 1:46.62
2. James Guy, England, 1:47.04
3. Calum Jarvis, Wales, 1:47.08
4. Kyle Chalmers, Australia, 1:47.10
5. Alexander Graham, Australia, 1:47.35
6. Chad Le Clos, South Africa 1:47.37
7. Mack Horton, Australia, 1:47.89
8. Stephen Milne, Scotland, 1:48.08

In the first circle-seeded heat, South African Chad Le Clos employed his typical race strategy by jumping out to an early lead, but Kyle Chalmers of Australia reeled him in over the final length, with Chalmers just taking the heat 1:47.10 to 1:47.37.

James Guy of England led from wire-to-wire in the 3rd heat, ultimately taking that heat by almost a body length, touching in a very smooth-looking 1:47.04.  Australia’s Mack Horton came in 2nd with a 1:47.89.

The final heat featured the closest battle yet, as Scotland’s Duncan Scott and Calum Jarvis of Wales ran down Australia’s Alexander Graham on the final 50.  Scott touched first in 1:46.62, followed by Jarvis (1:47.08) and Graham (1:47.35).

Women’s 50 Free Prelims

• CG Games Record: 23.96m Francesca Halsall (ENG), 2014

Top 16:

1. Cate Campbell, Australia, 24.24
2. Shayna Jack, Australia, 24.50
3. Bronte Campbell, Australia, 24.87
4. Taylor Ruck, Canada, 25.13
5. Erin Gallagher, South Africa, 25.21
6. Anna Hopkin, England, 25.29
7. Kayla Sanchez, Canada, 25.47
8. Emma Chelius, South Africa, 25.62
9. Lucy Hope, Scotland, 25.85
10. Laticia Transom, New Zealand, 25.96
11. Kalia Antoniou, Cyprus, 25.97
12. Jessica Jackson, England, 26.01
13. Danielle Hill, Northern Ireland, 26.02
14. Ting Quah, Singapore, 26.22
15. Lauren Hew, Cayman Islands, 26.59
16. Maria Brunlehner, Kenya, 26.70

The Aussie women took the top three spots heading into tonight’s semi-finals, with a different woman winning each of the circle-seeded heats.

Shayna Jack dominated heat 4, touching in 24.50, almost a second ahead of the rest of the heat.

Heat five was much closer, with Bronte Campbell holding off England’s Anna Hopkin and South Arica Erin Gallagher over the final few strokes, ultimately touching in 24.87.

The final heat featured the other Campbell sister, Cate, who looked to be a little slow off the blocks, but that didn’t seem to affect her too much.  She cruised to a 24.24 victory that was almost a second ahead of the rest of the field, including a pair of Canadians, Taylor Ruck and Kayla Sanchez, who swam on either side of Campbell.

Notably, Canada’s Penny Oleksiak did not compete this morning, despite appearing on the start lists.

Men’s 100 Breast Prelims

• CG Games Record: 58.94, Adam Peaty (ENG), 2014

1. Adam Peaty, England, 59.14
2. James Wilby, England, 59.80
3. Cameron Van Der Burgh, South Africa, 1:00.20
4. Matt Wilson, Australia/Jake Packard, Australia, 1:00.29
5. (Tie for 4th)
6. Ross Murdoch, Scotland, 1:00.92
7. Andrew Willis, England, 1:01.13
8. Craig Benson, Scotland, 1:01.63
9. Michael Houlie, South Africa, 1:01.66
10. Elijah Wall, Canada, 1:01.77
11. Liam Hunter, Australia, 1:02.17
12. Calum Tait, Scotland, 1:02.61
13. Taichi Vakasama, Fiji, 1:04.25
14. Guy Davies, Isle of Man, 1:04.88
15. Epeli Rabia Herbert, Fiji, 1:05.46
16. Ludovico Corsini, Mozambique, 1:05.83

James Wilby, last night’s winner in the 200 breast, out-dueled Cameron Van Der Burgh in heat two, with Wilby taking the heat in 59.80.

In heat three, Liam Hunter was in the lead at the 50, but couldn’t hold for the back half, as both Scotland’s Ross Murdoch and Aussie teammate Jake Packard eclipsed him, and Packard winning the heat with a 1:00.29.

Unsurprisingly, England’s Adam Peaty won the final heat, registering a time of 59.14.  Australia’s Matt Wilson was the only man anywhere close to Peaty, taking 2nd in the heat with a 1:00.29

Women’s 100 Back Prelims

• CG Games Record: 59.37, Emily Seebohm (AUS), 2014

1. Kylie Masse, Canada, 58.70
2. Emily Seebohm, Australia, 58.91
3. Elizabeth Simmonds, England, 1:00.49
4. Georgia Davies, Wales, 1:00.57
5. Kaylee McKeown, Australia, 1:00.65
6. Taylor Ruck, Canada, 1:00.72
7. Hayley Baker, Australia, 1:00.82
8. Jessica Fullalove, England, 1:01.04
9. Bobbi Gichard, New Zealand, 1:01.33
10. Kathleen Dawson, Scotland, 1:01.38
11. Jade Hannah, Canada, 1:01.51
12. Cassie Wild, Scotland, 1:02.29
13. Naomi Ruele, Botswana, 1:02.58
14. Anna Maine, England, 1:02.63
15. Nathania van Niekerk, South Africa, 1:02.81
16. Danielle Hill, Northern Ireland, 1:03.08

In the first seeded heat, Kaylee McKeown of Australia out-dueled her teammate, Hayley Baker, and Taylor Ruck of Canada, with McKeown touching in 1:00.65 and the other two swimmers both under two-tenths behind.

Defending champion Emily Seebohm, was in control for all of heat three.  She went out just a tad under the world record pace, and while she finished off of that, she looked quite comfortable all the way, smashing her own Commonwealth Games record with a 58.91, almost half a second under her previous record.

But the very next heat featured world record holder Kylie Masse, who had a chance to respond to Seebohm, as the Canadian swam in the same lane 4 a minute after Seebohm’s swim.  Sure enough, Masse ensured that Seebhom’s meet record didn’t last long, touching in 58.70 and setting up what should be a great race tomorrow between the pair.

Men’s 400 IM Prelims

• CG Games Record: 4:11.04, Daniel Wallace (SCO), 2014

1. Clyde Lewis, Australia, 4:17.25
2. Ayrton Sweeney, South Africa, 4:18.08
3. Mark Szaranek, Scotland, 4:18.47
4. Tristan Cote, Canada, 4:18.73
5. Bradlee Ashby, New Zealand, 4:18.83
6. Lewis Clareburt, New Zealand, 4:19.16
7. Travis Mahoney, Australia, 4:19.17
8. Joe Litchfield, England, 4:21.34

Unlike the other events that had at least one heat before we saw any big names, the 400 IM only had two heats this morning.

In the first heat, Australia’s Clyde Lewis built a lead early on, and held on the whole way to take the heat in 4:17.25

With almost everyone competing assured of a spot, it didn’t look like anyone at the top was pushing it too hard, but Scotland’s Mark Szaranek used a strong freestyle leg to win the 2nd heat in 4:18.47.

Women’s S9 100 Back Prelims

1. Alice Tai, England, 1:09.63
2. Ellie Cole, Australia, 1:11.18
3. Toni Shaw, Scotland, 1:16.19
4. Ashleigh McConnell, Australia, 1:16.50
5. Madeleine Scott, Australia, 1:16.87
6. Tupou Neiufi, New Zealand, 1:18.08

England’s Alice Tai led the field with a 1:09.63 that was about a second and a half faster than anyone else.  India’s Kiran Tak was disqualified, although the results did not explain what caused the DQ.

Men’s S9 100 Back Prelims

1. Timothy Disken, Australia, 56.59
2. Lewis White, England, 56.83
3. Brenden Hall, Australia, 57.93
4. Timothy Hodge, Australia, 58.76
5. Chris Arbuthnott, New Zealand, 58.78
6. Jesse Reynolds, New Zealand, 1:00.06
7. Barry McClements, Northern Ireland, 1:00.93
8. Jacob Leach, England, 1:02.50
9. Philippe Vachon, Canada, 1:02.61

England’s Lewis White took the first heat in 56.83, winning by well over a body length after it was tight at the first wall.

Timothy Disken of Australia was just a bit head of White’s time in heat two, touching in 56.59 and setting up a nice duel between Disken and White tonight.

Men’s 4×100 Free Relay Prelims

• CG Games Record: 3:13.44, AUS, 2014

1. Australia, 3:12.72
2. Scotland, 3:16.53
3. New Zealand, 3:17.96
4. England, 3:17.99
5. Canada, 3:19.30
6. Northern Ireland, 3:19.57
7. South Africa, 3:21.50
8. Sri Lanka, 3:22.84

Despite being all but assured of a spot in tonight’s final, the Australians didn’t mess around this morning, setting a new Commonwealth Games record in a time of 3:12.72.  James Magnussen and Jack Cartwright both split under 48, the only two swimmers in the field to do that, and Australia still has Kyle Chalmers available for finals, meaning that this record could very well go down again tonight.

England and New Zealand duked it out in the first heat, with New Zealand getting the touch.