Commonwealth Games: Andrew Jeffcoat Blasts New Zealand Record for 50 Back Gold

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Photo Courtesy: Swimming New Zealand

Commonwealth Games: Andrew Jeffcoat Blasts New Zealand Record for 50 Back Gold

New Zealand’s Andrew Jeffcoat downed his national record Monday at the Commonwealth Games, swimming away with gold in the men’s 50 backstroke.

Jeffcoat went 24.65 seconds to just edge out South Africa’s Pieter Coetze by .12 seconds. It’s the third gold medal for New Zealand in the men’s swimming events, joining Lewis Clareburt’s pair.

It’s a breakthrough for Jeffcoat, who turned 23 late last month. The Port Macquarie native lowered his national record from 24.83, set in the spring. He had finished 13th in the event at the World Championships in Budapest in June. He also buzzed within .03 of the Games record that has stood since 2010 in the possession of England’s Liam Tancock (24.62).

In the process, Jeffcoat denied Coetze a sprint backstroke double. The South African had won the 100 back earlier in the meet. With his time of 24.77, he remains in stubborn pursuit of the national record, which has stood at 24.34 since the 2009 World Championships in the hands of Gerhard Zandberg. (That is also the African record.)

Coetze had been the top seed in prelims at 24.81, just .01 up on Jeffcoat.

The bronze medal went to Javier Acevedo, who lowered his Canadian record to 24.97 seconds. The fourth seed out of prelims, Acevedo trimmed the national mark he had set back at the 2017 Worlds at 25.13.

Australian Bradley Woodward finished fourth in 25.08. Indian record holder Srihari Nataraj was fifth in 25.23.

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