Commonwealth Games: Gemma Spofforth Sets Games Record During Day Four Prelims

DELHI, India, October 6. THE fourth day of long course meter prelims is complete at the Commonwealth Games held in India.

Men's 50 breast
The sprint breast qualifying rounds opened the day with New Zealand's Glenn Snyders leading the way with a 28.15. Australia's Brenton Rickard (28.46), England's Daniel Sliwinski (28.47) and India's Sandeep Sejwal (28.58) finished second through fourth. South Africa's Cameron van der Burgh, the world record holder, touched fifth in 28.73, while Tonga's Amini Fonua (28.90), Australia's Christian Sprenger (28.94) and Canada's Scott Dickens (28.96) placed sixth through eighth.

Wales' Robert Holderness (29.01), Northern Ireland's Michael Dawson (29.36), India's Agnishwar Jayaprakash (29.66), Malaysia's See Tuan Yap (29.92), India's Puneet Rana (30.45), Kenya's Amar Shah (31.14), Singapore's Lijie Chng (31.33) and Bangladesh's Md. Shajahan Ali (31.36) also made semifinals.

Women's 50 back
England's Gemma Spofforth shot down the Games record with a time of 28.30. That swim eclipsed the 28.42 set by Giaan Rooney back in 2006. Spofforth also moved up to a 12th-place tie with Fabiola Molina in the world rankings. Australia's Emily Seebohm (28.72), Australia's Grace Loh (28.78) and Canada's Julia Wilkinson (29.04) placed second through fourth. Australia's Sophie Edington (29.07), New Zealand's Emily Thomas (29.17), Wales' Georgia Davies (29.19) and Canada's Sinead Russell (29.21) earned the rest of the top eight transfer spots.

England's Emma Saunders (29.68), Bermuda's Kiera Aitken (30.12), Canada's Lauren Lavigna (30.17), Malaysia's Kah Yan Chan (30.41), Wales' Jennifer Oldham (30.58), Papau New Guinea's Anna-Liza Mopio-Jane (31.18), India's Fariha Zaman (31.34) and Northern Ireland's Chelsey Wilson (31.60) picked up the rest of the semifinal lanes.

Men's 100 fly
Australia went 1-2 in prelims with Geoff Huegill clocking a swift 52.87 for the top seed. Teammate Chris Wright placed second in 53.89. Scotland's Andrea Mayor (53.94), Papau New Guinea's Ryan Pini (54.17), England's Antony James (54.19), Cayman Islands' Shaune Fraser (54.38), England's Michael Rock (54.42) and Canada's Stefan Hirniak (54.51) also made the top eight.

New Zealand's Moss Burmester (54.69), Kenya's Jason Dunford (54.85), Guernsey's Ian Powell (55.04), Malaysia's Daniel Henry Bego (55.13), India's Virdhawal Khade (55.17), Trinidad's Cadell Lyons (55.86), Scotland's Cameron Brodie (56.20) and Trinidad's Jarryd Gregoire (56.55) comprised the other semifinal spots.

Women's 100 breast
A trio of swimmers posted 1:08s in prelims with England's Kate Haywood (1:08.37), Australia's Samantha Marshall (1:08.41) and Australia's Sarah Katsoulis (1:08.43) taking the top three spots. Australia's Leisel Jones touched fourth in 1:09.22, while Canada's Martha McCabe (1:09.91), Canada's Annamay Pierse (1:10.00), England's Stacey Tadd (1:10.69) and Scotland's Kerry Buchan (1:11.09) placed fifth through eighth.

Scotland's Kathryn Johnstone (1:11.14), Jamaica's Alia Atkinson (1:11.47), Wales' Lowri Tynan (1:11.53), Wales' Sara Lougher (1:11.62), England's Rebecca Ajulu-Bushell (1:12.12), Northern Ireland's Sycerika McMahon (1:12.22), Wales' Georgia Holderness (1:12.22) and Malaysia's Christina Loh (1:13.14) rounded out the rest of the semifinal field.

ParaSport Women's S9 100 free
South Africa's Natalie Du Toit led the way with a 1:02.85, while England's Stephanie Millward (1:06.39), Australia's Ellie Cole (1:06.98) and Australia's Annabelle Williams (1:07.25) qualified second through fourth. Canada's Katarina Roxon (1:09.94), Trinidad's Shanntol Ince (1:14.01), India's Kiran Tak (1:27.02) and India's Anjani Patel (1:46.68) will also swim in the finale.

Women's 50 free
England's Fran Halsall, shaking off some serious illness issues that struck her down yesterday, returned with a top time in the splash-and-dash with a 25.05. Australia's Yolane Kukla (25.47) and Marieke Guehrer (25.55) touched second and third, while New Zealand's Hayley Palmer placed fourth in 25.58. Canada's Victoria Poon (25.60), England's Amy Smith (25.67), Australia's Alice Mills (25.73) and Malaysia's Lai Kwan Chui (26.38) pocketed fifth through eighth.

New Zealand's Amaka Gessler (26.40), Scotland's Lucy Ellis (26.63), Trinidad's Cherelle Thompson (26.65), England's Jessica Sylvester (26.74), Scotland's Sara Hamilton (26.80), Wales' Georgia Holderness (27.01), Malaysia's Chii Lin Leung (27.15) and Papau New Guinea's Anna-Liza Mopio-Jane (27.30) grabbed the other spots in semifinals.

Men's 100 back
Wales' Marco Loughran raced to the top seed with a time of 54.95, while New Zealand's Daniel Bell finished second in 55.03. England's Liam Tancock (55.15), England's Christopher Walker-Hebborn (55.18), Australia's Ashley Delaney (55.35) and Australia's Daniel Arnamnart (55.63) placed third through sixth. South Africa's Charl Crous (55.69) and New Zealand's Gareth Kean (55.85) also made the top eighth.

Canada's Charles Francis (56.06), England's Ryan Bennett (56.07), Scotland's Craig McNally (56.92), Canada's Tobias Oriwol (57.15), Malaysia's Ian Barr Kumarakulasinghe (58.54), India's Badrinath Melkote (59.03), Sri Lanka's Heshan Unamboowe (59.35) and Zambia's Zane Jordan (59.89) earned the rest of the semifinal seeds.

Men's 400 IM
South Africa's Riaan Schoeman (4:18.46), England's Joseph Roebuck (4:18.56) and Scotland's Lewis Smith (4:18.56) earned the top three seeds in the distance medley prelims. Wales' Thomas Haffield (4:20.12), South Africa's Chad Le Clos (4:21.87), England's Roberto Pavoni (4:22.06), Australia's Thomas Fraser-Holmes (4:22.39) and Canada's Brian Johns (4:23.64) rounded out the championship field.

Day Four Prelims Results

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