Commonwealth Games: Day One Prelims

DELHI, India, October 3. THE first day of long course meter preliminary action is complete at the Commonwealth Games held in India.

Women's 200 free
Australia went 1-2 in qualifying with Kylie Palmer (1:58.71) and Blair Evans (1:59.25) taking the first two seeds in the event. Palmer finished short of her 12th-ranked season best of 1:57.50, while Evans had been in the 1:57s with a ninth-ranked 1:57.27.

New Zealand's Lauren Boyle tied with England's Joanne Jackson for third with matching 1:59.33s. Wales' Jazmin Carlin (1:59.59), England's Rebecca Adlington (1:59.68), Canada's Genevieve Saumur (1:59.97) and Canada's Barbara Rojas-Jardin (2:00.32) earned the rest of the qualification spots.

Men's 50 back
England's Liam Tancock turned in a 25.47 to lead the way in the sprint back qualifying. He has the second-fastest time this year with a 24.52 from March. Australia's Daniel Arnamnart (25.52) and Hayden Stoeckel (25.56) finished second and third in prelims.

Wales' Marco Loughran (25.62), New Zealand's Gareth Kean (25.80) and Daniel Bell (25.90) qualified fourth through sixth. Australia's Ashley Delaney (25.94) and Canada's Charles Francis (26.04) took seventh and eighth.

Canada's Tobias Oriwol (26.62), Trinidad's Christian-Paul Homer (27.12), Malaysia's Ian Barr Kumurakulasinghe (27.45), Zambia's Zane Jordan (27.46), Trinidad's Joshua McLeod (27.50), India's Balakrishnan Melkote Badrinath (27.52), Trinidad's Caryle Blondell (27.53) and Singapore's Dzulhaili Mohamed Kamal (27.60) rounded out the rest of the semifinal field.

Women's 50 fly
The Aussie's went 1-2 again in the sprint fly with Emily Seebohm (26.52) and Marieke Guehrer (26.64) earning the top two finishes. England's Fran Halsall touched third in 26.69, while Australia's Yolane Kukla gave the Aussies three of the top four finishes with a 27.06.

England's Ellen Gandy (27.07), Canada's Katerine Savard (27.10), New Zealand's Hayley Palmer (27.16) and England's Amy Smith (27.25) placed fifth through eighth.

Scotland's Louise Pate (27.45), Wales' Jemma Lowe (27.45), Canada's Audrey Lacroix (27.49), Canada's MacKenzie Downing (27.54), Wales' Alys Thomas (28.41), Northern Ireland's Bethany Carson (28.90), Mozambique's Monica Bernardo (29.58) and India's Shubha Chittaranjan (29.96) also made semifinals.

Men's 400 free
Canada's Ryan Cochrane cruised into lane four in the middle distance event with a 3:50.70, while Scotland's Robert Renwick placed second in 3:50.85. Australia's Ryan Napoleon, back from his minor doping suspension, qualified third in 3:51.06. Wales' David Davies finished fourth in 3:51.37.

South Africa's Mark Randall (3:51.64), Scotland's David Carry (3:51.73), South Africa's Jean Basson (3:53.06) and England's Richard Charlesworth (3:53.83) earned the final transfer spots into finals.

Women's 200 IM
Australia's Alicia Coutts grabbed the top seed in the medley with a 2:13.86, while Scotland's Hannah Miley took second in 2:14.08. Australia's Emily Seebohm touched third in 2:14.32 with Canada's Julia Wilkinson placing fourth in 2:14.52.

New Zealand's Natalie Wiegersma (2:15.45), England's Kate Hutchinson (2:15.90), England's Aimee Willmott (2:15.95) and Canada's Erica Morningstar (2:16.80) picked up the rest of the top eight spots.

Men's 200 fly
Canada's Stefan Hirniak paced prelims with a 1:57.01, while South Africa's Sebastien Rousseau took second in 1:57.45. Hirniak's effort proved to be a Canadian record. Australia's Chris Wright (1:57.78) and Jayden Hadler (1:57.90) qualified third and fourth.

South Africa's Chad Le Clos (1:57.92), England's Joseph Roebuck (1:57.98), England's Roberto Pavoni (1:58.94) and England's Michael Rock (1:58.42) placed fifth through eighth to complete the championship field.

Women's 50 breast
Australia's Leiston Pickett blazed through the sprint breast with a top time of 30.57. That effort moved her to third in the world rankings, up from fifth with a previous best of 30.75 from Pan Pacs. Leisel Jones, who now holds fourth with a 30.61, qualified second in 31.04.

England's Kate Haywood touched third in 31.30, while Australia's Sarah Katsoulis earned fourth in 31.50. Canada's Annamay Pierse (31.71), England's Rebecca Ajulu-Bushell (31.97), Scotland's Kathryn Johnstone (32.14) and Jamaica's Alia Atkinson (32.24) finished fifth through eighth.

Northern Ireland's Sycerika McMahon (32.30), Scotland's Corrie Scott (32.64), Wales' Lowri Tynan (32.68), Wales' Sara Lougher (32.83), Wales' Georgia Holderness (32.92), Cyprus' Anastasia Christoforou (32.96), Canada's Martha McCabe (32.96) and Scotland's Kerry Buchan (33.19) also made the semifinal field.

Men's 400 free relay
Australia's Kyle Richardson, Cameron Prosser, James Magnussen and Tommaso D'Orsogna topped qualifying in 3:15.18, while England's Ross Davenport, Simon Burnett, Grant Turner and Adam Brown touched second in 3:17.60.

South Africa (3:18.94), Canada (3:22.01), Scotland (3:26.14), India (3:28.06), Northern Ireland (3:28.62) and Singapore (3:31.02) also placed teams into the finale.

Day One Prelims Results

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