Commonwealth Games, Day 4 Finals: Jenna Forrester Blasts Front Half of 400 IM, Holds Off Teenager Amalie Smith for Gold
Over the past few years, Jenna Forrester has established herself among the world’s best 400 IMers. She has won silver and bronze medals in the event at the World Championships, most recently tying Japan’s Mio Narita for second last year, and now she has her first international gold in the event while closing down on the all-time top-10 in the event.
The 23-year-old Forrester trailed by three hundredths after the opening 50 meters, but she quickly opened up a substantial lead on the field. Her backstroke leg was particularly swift, going 1:06.51 to build a lead of 4.70 seconds at the halfway point. The challenge came on breaststroke, however, as England’s Amalie Smith closed the gap. Smith, 16, split 1:16.14, more than two seconds ahead of Forrester, to make the race interesting going into the closing stage.
But Forrester held tough on freestyle to secure gold. She touched in 4:31.19, improving upon her previous best time of 4:31.47 posted at Australian Trials last month. Forrester remains the third-fastest swimmer in the world this year behind Summer McIntosh and Yu Zidi. On the all-time list, Forrester now ranks 11th, four hundredths behind 10th-place Maya DiRado, and third all-time among Australians behind Kaylee McKeown and Stephanie Rice.
Forrester previously won gold in the 200 backstroke and took bronze in the 400 freestyle on the meet’s opening night. This medley result made her the third swimmer to win multiple individual gold medals in Glasgow, joining fellow Australian Lani Pallister and South Africa’s Pieter Coetze.
Smith placed second in 4:33.70, blasting her best time by more than a second and jumping into fifth in the world rankings this year. Australia’s Ella Ramsay secured bronze in 4:37.12, with Canada’s Ella Jansen (4:39.12) the only other swimmer under 4:40.
