Australians Set Up For Two Relay Wins After Final Prelim Session At 2014 Commonwealth Games

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In the final prelims session of the Commonwealth Games, no Games records were broken surprisingly, but many great finals were set up including a rematch of the 800m freestyle last night with the top three all making it through to tonight’s 400m freestyle final.

WOMENS 400m FREESTYLE

Silver medallist in last night’s 800m freestyle final, Lauren Boyle from New Zealand swam the fastest 400m freestyle in the heats this morning with a time of 4:07.06. There were about five or six swimmers who were also in that range which should set up the final to be quite a race as was the 800.

Qualifying second was 17-year-old Australian Remy Fairweather. Fairweather swam a 4:07.35 to finish just behind Boyle. She should be similar to that mark tonight in finals. You can bet she’ll be looking to add to her hardware as she’s already won a gold medal in the 4x200m freestyle relay.

Bronte Barratt, her Australian teammate, was the third fastest qualifier this morning with a time of 4:08.81. She was just ahead of Canadian mid-distance freestyler Brittany MacLean who swam a 4:08.84, coming off a bronze medal performance in the 800m freestyle last night. MacLean was not able to win the gold, although her time wasn’t far off the winning time of 8:18.11 set by Jazz Carlin. MacLean was just behind Boyle’s time of 8:30.59 with a 8:20.91.

If anything, MacLean has shown that she can properly pace a race and stay with these two leaders. After racing them last night, there’s a fair chance she’ll be able to pass them and go for gold tonight as the 400m freestyle is her speciality. She broke the Canadian record last night in the 800, she’ll need to be under the 4:05.06 she swam at the London Olympics if she wants to grab another record.

Also in the final will be Hannah Miley from the host nation of Scotland who has made so many finals it’s tough to keep track. Miley was a 4:09.30 this morning, although not exactly a favorite for a medal, with the way she’s been swimming if she can stick with the leaders and try to push ahead on that last 100 she could very well be in the mix.

Qualifying behind her was last night’s 800m freestyle gold medallist Jazz Carlin from Wales. Expect Carlin to be up there fighting for the gold. She was a 4:09.76 this morning, but has the ability to be faster tonight.

MENS 200m IM

Daniel Tranter from Australia qualified first in the 200m IM this morning with a time of 1:59.05. Many of the Aussie males have been slower than what they were earlier in the season at this meet. Tranter will need to step up that time if he wants to get on the podium tonight. Heading into the meet he was one of the favorite’s for gold, but he’ll have to take down Scotland’s Dan Wallace who won the 400m IM in a Commonwealth Games record earlier in the meet.

Wallace qualified as the second seed in 1:59.36 over South Africa’s Sebastian Rousseau. Rousseau earned himself a bronze medal in the 400m IM already, so he should be looking to add to his hardware.

Also in the final will be Roberto Pavoni and Joe Roebuck from England. The two swimmers have made a presence in the IM events here in Glasgow and should not be counted out. Pavoni’s time of 1:59.79 this morning wasn’t that far off the 1:59.61 swam by Rousseau or the 1:59.36 swam by Wallace. Without being said it’s very clear that he’s in the mix. He’ll want to make the charge for a medal tonight.

Chad Le Clos is a wild card in this event. He was a 2:00.78 this morning but does boast a very fast 200m IM having already gone a 1:57.94 this season. On the fly, he’ll try to push the field since and he should be ahead after that first 50. If he can make enough of a lead where he can hold off some of the other guys he should be good. He’ll need to deal with Thomas Fraser-Holmes coming home though who has a great 200m freestyle and will be very fast on that last 50. Earlier in the meet Fraser-Holmes chased down Cameron McEvoy in the 200m freestyle which gave him the gold medal.

MENS AND WOMENS 4x100m Medley RELAYS

The Australians are seeded first in both the men’s and women’s relays and should have no problem coming home with two golds tonight. For the men, the team that will consist of Mitchell Larkin, Christian Sprenger, Jayden Hadler or Tomasso D’Orsogna, and Cameron McEvoy or James Magnussen will come very close to the Commonwealth Games record if not break it.

Most likely, Magnussen will be swimming that last 100 tonight. McEvoy swam in the prelims and after beating McEvoy head-to-head in the 100m freestyle final it’s safe to say that it was the right call by the Aussie staff to throw McEvoy into the prelims. McEvoy was only a 48.37 on that final leg this morning.

As for the butterfly, it looks as though Hadler will take it. Hadler placed above D’Orsogna in the actual 100m fly final, and D’Orsogna swam the prelims session this morning.

The Australian women were a 3:59.44 this morning. Throw in their ‘A’ squad and they could very well break the Commonwealth Games record of 3:56.30.

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