FOUR MORE SWIMMING COMMONWEALTH GAMES RECORDS AND AN EAD WORLD RECORD DAY 2 FINALS

FOUR MORE SWIMMING COMMONWEALTH GAMES RECORDS AND AN EAD WORLD RECORD DAY 2 FINALS

March 17, 2006

Jamaica had no swims this evening although Alia Atkinson was the first alternate in the final of the 50 M Breaststroke - there were no scratches.

The evening emphasized the feeling that the MSAC Pool is “fast” as four more Commonwealth Games Records and one EAD World Record fell. Australia had a good night with two Gold Medals but England had two as well. Danni Miatke won the first event, the Women’s 50 M Butterfly, in a record time of 26.42. Two events later, her team mates Leisel Jones (30.55), Jade Edmistone (30.84) and Tarnee White (31.26) swept the medals in the Women’s 50 Breaststroke. World Record holder Edmistone had set a new Games record in the preliminary heats but had a bad start and could not make up the gap.

In the Men’s 50 M Backstroke, Liam Tancock (England), who had broken the Games Record in the heats and the semi-finals, was upstaged by his teammate Matthew Clay who had a spectacular swim to win the Gold in 25.04, .20 short of the Tancock’s record time.

South Africa’s Roland Schoeman was “oh so close” to his World Record time of 22.96 in the Men’s 50 M Butterfly, swimming 23.14 in the semi-finals for the second Commonwealth Games Record of the night. The final should be an exciting race with five of the finalists under 24 seconds.

Natalie Du Tiot, swimming for South Africa in the Women’s 50 M Freestyle EAD (Elite Athlete with Disabilities), repeated her 2002 Gold Medal performance, swimming a World Record time of 29.27 (S9 Class). Du Tiot, who was once South Africa’s 800 M Freestyle Champion, lost her leg in an accident. Second was Canada’s Anne Polinario (S10) who swam 28.63 with Australia’s Josephine Williams (S9) third in 30.35 (NB. Actual times are adjusted according to the disability class for final placing).

England’s Christopher Cook swam the third Games record of the night clocking 1:00.94 in the Men’s 100 Breaststroke semi-final. Brenton Rickard (Australia) has the second fastest time going into the final but his teammate Jim Piper was disqualified for a dolphin kick in the last 25 metres. Caribbean Champion Bradley Ally swam 1:03.38 for tenth place and is the second alternate for the final.

The Australian women who have won eleven of their countries fourteen swimming medals after two days of swimming look set to make another clean sweep in the 100 M Freestyle. Jodie Henry lowered the Games Record again, swimming 54.11 with a wonderful come from behind semi-final win. Teammate and World Record holder Lisbeth Lenton had a scintillating start, timing 25.84 at the 50 M turn, but she could not maintain the pace and Henry passed her at the 75 metre mark. Alice Mills (55.08) won the first semi-final to ensure that the three fastest women are in the choice lanes in tomorrows final. South Africa’s Lize-Mari Retief scratched from the semi-finals allowing the first alternate Alana Dillette (Bahamas) to improve on her preliminary heats time, swimming 59.78 for fourteenth place.

England men, who have made good use of Ian Thorpe’s absence, added a Gold and Silver Medal to their tally when Ross Davenport and Simon Burnett out-sprinted the competition in the Men’s 200 M Freestyle. South Africa’s Ryk Neethling went out too fast turning first at the 50 M mark in 24.61, .11 seconds ahead of the world record pace, but he could not maintain it and by the 100 M point had dropped back to third. Canada’s Brent Hayden touched first at the 100 M (59.15) and the race looked like a 50 M sprint with the swimmers in lanes one to six all within a metre of each other. Davenport took a slim lead just before the 150 M turn and held it in a close finish to take the Gold in 1:47.29, Burnett timed 1:47.38 for the Silver and Hayden just behind in 1:47.41 for the Bronze Medal.

The final event of the evening was the Women’s 100 M Backstroke semi-final. The Australian women once again showed their depth as Sophie Edington (1:01.30), Giaan Rooney (1:01.68) and Tayliah Zimmer (1:02.48) qualified for the final. The other qualifiers were: Melanie Marshall (England), Hannah McLean (New Zealand), Kelly Stefanysyn (Canada) and South Africa’s Melissa Corfe.