BRAD HAMILTON SETS NEW JAMAICAN NATIONAL RECORD IN MEN’S 50 M BUTTERFLY
AT COMMONWEALTH GAMES
March 17, 2006
Brad Hamilton swam his first Commonwealth Games event this
morning swimming a personal best time of 26.60 in the Men’s 50 M Butterfly,
placing fourth in his heat and establishing a new Jamaican National Record in
the process. Hamilton
was second off the blocks with a reaction time of .69 and looked strong
throughout the race finishing 27th overall. Leading the swimmers
into the semi-finals are the World Record Holder Roland Schoeman
(South Africa) 23.59,
Matthew Targett 23.91 and Michael Klim
2404 (both of Australia).
Chris Vythoulkas of the Bahamas qualified for the
semi-final with a time of 25.61.
Jamaica
had two entries in the Women’s 100 M Freestyle. Tamara Swaby
was first to go and she had a great start swimming from lane two in heat three.
Looking very composed, Swaby was in seventh place at
the 50 M mark (29.60), had a fantastic turn and by the 75 metre point had moved
into third which she held to the finish touching in 1:00.95. In the following
heat, Australia’s
Alice Mills finished first in a Games Record time of 54.80. Alia
Atkinson was up next. Swimming in lane 1, she had decided to go out hard but in
doing so seemed to loose her form, turning in 28.70 and finished eight with a
disappointing 1:00.13. In lane four, Australia’s Jodie Henry added more
excitement as she broke Mills new Games record swimming 54.82.
The Men’s 200 M Freestyle was a speed fest with the top
eight men moving to the final all faster than 1:50. Jamaica’s Brad Hamilton swam in
lane eight of the final heat and had the fastest reaction time off the blocks. Dispite the good start, Hamilton looked tight from the start and at
the 100 M mark turned eighth in 56.73. He finished with a time of 1:59.54,
about a second off his PB, and twenty-fourth place overall. Shaune
Fraser of the Cayman Islands could not improve
on his personal best time either, swimming 1:52.15 to finish in sixteenth
place.
Bradley Ally of Barbados qualified for the
semi-final of the Men’s 100 M Breaststroke swimming 1:04.23.