Commonwealth Games Day 3: Le Clos, Campbell, Peaty, Masse Win Gold

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Canada's Kylie Masse -- Photo Courtesy: Ian MacNicol

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During the third day of swimming competition at the Commonwealth Games, some of swimming’s top stars each earned gold medals. The winners included South Africa’s Chad Le Clos in the men’s 200 fly, Australia’s Cate Campbell in the women’s 50 free, England’s Adam Peaty in the men’s 100 breast and Canada’s Kylie Masse in the women’s 100 back.

Read below for an event-by-event recap of the session.

Full results

Men’s 200 Fly FINAL

Chad Le Clos would not be challenged in the men’s 200 fly final as the South African cruised to his third straight Commonwealth Games title in the event. Despite falling off his own pace down the stretch, Le Clos was so far ahead of the field that no one was going to come close.

Le Clos finished in 1:54.00, breaking his own Games record of 1:55.07 set in 2014 in Glasgow. He won by a whopping 2.36 seconds over Australian David Morgan, who claimed the silver in 1:56.36. Scotland’s Duncan Scott, better known for his freestyle abilities, claimed bronze in 1:56.60.

Australia’s Grant Irvine just missed the medals with a fourth-place time of 1:56.91, and he was followed by England’s Jacob Peters (1:57.75), Canada’s Mack Darragh (1:57.81), New Zealand’s Lewis Clareburt (1:58.51) and India’s Sajan Prakash (1:59.05).

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Women’s 50 Free FINAL

Cate Campbell quickly pulled ahead of younger sister Bronte Campbell and pulled away to win the 50 free Commonwealth title by almost a half-second. She gave the world record, Sarah Sjostrom’s 23.67, a push, but she ended up settling for the third-fastest time in history.

Cate Campbell touched in 23.78, breaking her own Commonwealth and Australian records of 23.79 set last month. Bronte Campbell ended up tying for silver with Canada’s Taylor Ruck in 24.26. The medal was Ruck’s second individual honor of the meet, after her 200 free gold, and Ruck will also swim the 100 back final later in the session.

Australia’s Shayna Jack, a training partner of the Campbell sisters, finished fourth in 24.57, and South Africa’s Erin Gallagher took fifth (25.03). Canada’s Kayla Sanchez, a training partner of Ruck, took sixth (25.12), followed by England’s Anna Hopkin (25.28) and Northern Ireland’s Danielle Hill (25.56).

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Men’s 100 Breast FINAL

Adam Peaty dominated the 2016 Olympic final and 2017 World Championship finals of the 100 breast, winning by more than a second and a half on each occasion, but he had to work a bit harder than expected to claim his second straight Commonwealth title.

After posting a 50-meter split of 26.74, a new Games record, the Englishman actually lost ground down the stretch but held on to finish in 58.84 and take the gold. Peaty closed in 32.10, while his English teammate James Wilby finished in 31.48 to move into silver-medal position. Wilby, the 200 breast gold medalist from Thursday, finished in 59.43.

South Africa’s Cameron van der Burgh finished one hundredth behind Wilby and took bronze in 59.44. Van der Burgh was the 2012 Olympic gold medalist and 2010 Commonwealth champion in the event.

Australia’s Jake Packard (59.70) and Scotland’s Ross Murdoch (59.89) both broke the 1:00 barrier (and coincidentally, both finished faster than Peaty on the second 50). Scotland’s Craig Benson (1:00.42), Australia’s Matt Wilson (1:00.48) and England’s Andrew Willis (1:01.13) also swam in the final.

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Women’s 100 Back FINAL

Australia’s Emily Seebohm had the lead almost the entire length of the women’s 100 back final, and she appeared to have a slight lead heading into the finish, but Canada’s Kylie Masse somehow got her hand to the wall in front.

Masse finished in 58.63, well off her world record of 58.10 but under her Games record of 58.66 set in the semi-finals. Seebohm, who was the two-time defending champion in the event, came in second at 58.66.

Maase’s Canadian teammate Taylor Ruck finished third in 58.97, becoming the 17th woman in history to break 59. The medal was Ruck’s second in the span of less than 40 minutes after she won a tied for silver in the 50 free. Ruck will also swim the 4×200 free relay later in the session.

Australian teenager Kaylee McKeown touched third in 1:00.08, just ahead of Wales’ Georgia Davies (1:00.17). Scotland’s Kathleen Dawson tied with Australia’s Hayley Baker for sixth in 1:00.74, and Canada’s Jade Hannah was eighth in 1:00.83.

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Men’s 50 Back Semi-Finals

Australian swimmers claimed the top three spots in the semi-finals of the men’s 50 back. Mitch Larkins led the way in 24.91, nine hundredths ahead of countryman Ben Treffers (24.99). Zac Inserti finished a further two tenths back to qualify third in 25.19.

Jersey’s Harry Shalamon finished fourth in 25.52, and the final will also include Northern Ireland’s Conor Ferguson (25.60), Malaysia’s Jian Han Tern (25.60), Wales’ Xavier Castelli (25.74) and Scotland’s Craig McNally (26.00).

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Women’s 50 Fly Semi-Finals

For the second straight semi-final event, Australian swimmers occupied the top three qualifying spots in the 50 fly. Madeline Groves, fresh off a silver in the 100 fly Friday, qualified first in 25.54, two hundredths ahead of Cate Campbell. Campbell, about an hour after winning gold in the 50 free, qualified second in 25.56.

Holly Barratt qualified third for the Aussies in 25.88, and Canada’s Penny Oleksiak also broke 26, qualifying at 25.94. Oleksiak’s teammate Rebecca Smith was the fifth-fastest qualifier, in 26.68, so expect the battle for the medals to come between Oleksiak and the three Aussies.

Wales’ Alys Thomas took sixth in 26.72, while Jamaica’s Alia Atkinson, known mostly for her breaststroke abilities, qualified seventh in 26.84. One hundredth back and in eighth place was South Africa’s Erin Gallagher (26.85).

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Men’s 100 Free Semi-Finals

Australia’s Cameron McEvoy, the silver medalist in the 100 free at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2015 World Champs, qualified first in 48.50 to set up an extremely competitive final. His biggest foreign challenger will be South Africa’s Chad Le Clos, who qualified second in 48.61 after winning gold in the 200 fly final.

The biggest threat of all is 19-year-old Aussie Kyle Chalmers, the Olympic gold medalist in the 100 free and already the 200 free Commonwealth gold medalist. Chalmers qualified third in 48.70.

Scotland’s Duncan Scott finished just behind Chalmers in 48.72, with Australia’s Jack Cartwright (48.73) and Canada’s Yuri Kisil (48.79) not far away. Also making the final were Trinidad and Tobago’s Dylan Carter (49.06) and New Zealand’s Daniel Hunter (49.11).

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Women’s 200 Breast FINAL

In the Commonwealth final of the women’s 200 breast, South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker took over on the third 50 and pulled away to dominate the field. She came in to win the event in 2:22.02, moving all the way up to 18th all-time in the event. Schoenmaker broke the African record of 2:23.21 set by countrywoman Suzaan van Biljon in 2012.

England’s Molly Renshaw took silver in 2:23.28, overtaking Wales’ Chloe Tutton down the stretch. Tutton, who led after 100 meters, finished in 2:23.42. Canada’s Kierra Smith just missed a medal, taking fourth in 2:23.62.

Australia’s Taylor McKeown, the defending champion in the event, finished fifth in 2:25.51, and she was followed by countrywoman Tessa Wallace (2:26.59) and South Africans Emily Visagie (2:29.25) and Kaylene Corbett (2:29.40).

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Men’s SB8 100 Breast

After winning gold in the S9 100 free one day earlier, Australia’s Tim Disken captured the gold medal in the SB8 100 breast at the Commonwealth Games. He finished in 1:12.42, more than three seconds ahead of countryman Timothy Hodge (1:15.80). Blake Cochrane made it an Australian 1-2-3 sweep, taking the bronze in 1:18.75.

New Zealand’s Jesse Reynolds took fourth in 1:21.65, followed by England’s Jacob Leach (1:25.35), New Zealand’s Celyn Edwards (1:25.63), South Africa’s Kaleb van der Merwe (1:26.11) and Canada’s Phillippe Vachon (1:29.14).

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Women’s SM10 200 IM FINAL

New Zealand’s Sophie Pascoe finished more than four seconds ahead of her competition in the women’s SM10 200 IM final, leading wire-to-wire and recording a time of 2:27.72. The gold was the Kiwi’s third at the Commonwealth Games in her career after winning the 200 IM and 100 breast titles four years ago in Glasgow.

Canada’s Aurelie Rivard took silver in 2:31.79, two hundredths ahead of bronze medalist Katherine Downie of Australia (2:31.81).

Two more Australians finished fourth and fifth, respectively, with Paige Leonhardt (2:32.68) and Jasmine Greenwood (2:34.97). Other finalists included Scotland’s Toni Shaw (2:38.38), Canada’s Samantha Ryan (2:43.63) and Canada’s Katarina Roxon (2:48.32).

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Women’s 4×200 Free Relay FINAL

The Australians continued their undefeated run in relays as the women built a comfortable lead over Canada in the 4×200 free relay and held on for gold. The team of Emma McKeon (1:56.52), Brianna Throssell (3:54.22), Leah Neale (1:58.23) and Ariarne Titmus (1:55.59) combined to swim a time of 7:48.04, under Australia’s Games record of 7:49.90 set four years ago.

Canada’s Penny OleksiakKayla SanchezRebecca Smith and Taylor Ruck took silver in 7:49.66, with Ruck anchoring in 1:55.14. Ruck was off her 200 free winning time of 1:54.81, but she had already swum in two finals on the night, winning silver in the 50 free and bronze in the 100 back.

England, with Eleanor FaulknerSiobhan Marie O’ConnorFreya Anderson and Holly Hibbott, took bronze in 7:55.60. Also competing were Scotland (8:01.55), Wales (8:03.00) and South Africa (8:18.31).

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