Commonwealth Games 2022: Kaylee McKeown breaks record but still has mountain to climb
Olympic champion Kaylee McKeown proved her brilliance yet again with backstroke gold but the challenge has only just begun for Australia’s quiet achiever. Full swimming wrap
The quiet achiever of the Australian swim team Kaylee McKeown reminded everyone of her golden place in the team, delivering a blistering finish in the 100m backstroke final.
The current world record holder fought off a challenge from the Canadian Olympic silver medallist Kylie Masse and notching up a Commonweath Games record in the process.
Masse, 26, known for her slick starts, had held the record from the Gold Coast four years ago, and the Canadian took the race out hard, turning at the 50m mark first with McKeown turning in third.
But McKeown powered home, catching Masse with 20m to go and out touching her to clock 58.60s. Masse’s time was 58.73s and Welsh swimmer Medi Harris was third.
It was another huge night in Birmingham for Australia with the 4x200m women's relay team breaking the world record even without Emma McKeon who won a record 11th gold medal in the 50m butterfly. Kyle Chalmers also set the pool alight in the 100m freestyle.
In the backstroke, the other Australian Minna Atherton, who had got off to a terrific start, just missed a medal, finishing in fourth place. McKeown is famed for her toughness in the final few strokes, and she says she draws inspiration from her father, whom she helped care for before he died of cancer two years ago.
Watching intently from the stands to get an insight into the Australian’s technique was the coaching staff of another Canadian, Summer Mcintosh, one of the Aussie’s other Canadian rival.
McKeown has pencilled in an audacious 200m backstroke - 200m individual medley double, requiring back to back swims in the heats and finals with less than an hour between each race in each session.
In the finals, there is also a medal ceremony in the middle. McKeown said she would see how a sore shoulder feels before attempting the double schedule.
“My shoulder has been playing up a bit, so we’re gonna see how we come up in the morning and see what happens,” she said.
“But the best I can do is wing it and see what happens. There is no pressure, it’s fun at the Comm games, and I think that’s exactly the way to race it.”
DETERMINED JACK BEATS MORE THAN SWIMMERS ON HER WAY TO BRONZE
IT has been a long time coming, but finally Shayna Jack has won her first international medal in an individual event, collecting a bronze in the Commonwealth Games 50m freestyle final.
Jack and fellow Australian Meg Harris battled for the minor medals behind the mercurial Emma McKeon, with Harris just tipping out Jack by four hundredths of a second to win silver.
Jack, 23, has overcome a series of setbacks that would have derailed most people without her incredible resilience. She was hit with a four- year drug ban, cut down to two years when it was ruled she didn’t intend to ingest any banned substances and then a recent surgery.
Four years ago at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games she was a member of the gold medal winning 4x100m relay team, but then three weeks before the 2019 world championships she returned the positive drug test to the muscle-boosting drug ligandrol.
Then this year while in Budapest for the world championships Jack broke a bone in her hand when she got it tangled in a swimsuit while warming up for the individual event and she returned home to Queensland to have minor surgery before arriving in Birmingham.
“I’m just gonna get emotional,” said Jack. “It might not have been like the result I wanted tonight but I think for me, I’ve got to be really proud of how far I’ve come you know, it’s not been an easy journey.
“I’ve had two major hiccups so just to be standing here today and actually be able to get on the podium with these two girls is actually such an honour. I probably can’t even put into words how amazing it feels to me to be there. I love being part of the relays you know but to actually be on the podium as an individual swimmer is second to none.
BRAVE SILVER IN 200M BREASTSTROKE
Bendigo’s Jenna Strauch has won the silver medal in the 200m breaststroke at the Commonwealth Games, confirming her recent breakthrough results.
The performance puts her in touch of the winner, the world record holder South African Tatjana Schoenmaker.
Strauch will take enormous confidence from her effort, which builds on her silver medal over the same distance at the recent world championships in Budapest.
On Monday morning in Birmingham, Schoenmaker had established an early lead but Strauch, 25, held her form for the entire race to touch out another South African Kaylene Corbett by just two hundredths of a second for second place.
While Schoenmaker was three seconds off her record of 2min18.95 set at the Tokyo Olympics, Strauch has been consistent over the tough worlds-Commonwealth Games campaign.
Before the final, Strauch, who now trains in Queensland said: “It has been a big few months of racing for me, so it’s nice to get out there and know I am still in form and hopefully keep the momentum going.”
She said it was wonderful being able to feed off a loud crowd, and she was thrilled that her family was in the audience.
Abbey Harkin finished in fifth, Taylor McKeown sixth.
- Jacquelin Magnay
ENGLISH GIANT’S SHOCK LOSS
TWO Aussies have done what most people thought impossible — beating Adam Peaty on to the medal podium in the 100m breaststroke at the Commonwealth Games.
But in a shock twist, neither Australian ended up with the gold because another Englishman beat them to the touch on the wall.
Zac Stubblety-Cook, the 200m gold medallist, won the silver while Sam Williamson grabbed the bronze, relegating Peaty to fourth as the gold went to James Wilby in a massive upset.
Peaty is the king of the event, holding every major title in swimming, and was odds-on to win another gold but he was well off his best after recently recovering from a broken ankle, fading on the second length after leading at the turn.
A slow beginner, Stubblety-Cook was eighth at the halfway mark but flashed home and was centimetres away from winning the gold when he ran out of room.
“Yeah, I’m pretty stoked. I mean, it was such a great atmosphere and such a great race,” said Stubblety-Cook. “It was just, you know, it’s great to be among some of those really good guys and I think the atmosphere is pretty cool.
“I think Sam and I both appreciate like, watching Peaty come out and it was just like the whole crowd was in the stands and I looked up and was like this is going to be fun.
“It was a tight finish and we all came through and I think we all executed the best race we could.
“Like he’ll be ready to go in Paris. his world record is still three seconds faster than what we just swam so there’s there’s no secret.”
Williamson was in tears in the mixed zone.
“The last two years have been pretty rocky. Swimming alongside the company of these guys, it’s a dream come true.”
- Julian Linden
KIWI PIPS AUSSIE ON THE WALL
Tim Hodge was stoked to win his second medal at the Commonwealth Games but he was equally as honoured to share the podium with para-swimming legend Blake Cochrane who touched in third in his final race in the green and gold.
Hodge, who won gold on in the men’s S9 100m backstroke earlier this week, led the whole race for the 100m breaststroke only to be pipped at the wall by Kiwi Joshua Wilmer.
“Unfortunately, that’s sometimes the brutal truth of the sport,” Hodge said.
“I’ve won medals by small margins like that I’ve lost medals by small margins.
“The one thing to take away for me is I’m just really happy with a great performance, a great time and fingers crossed next time I can get to the wall first.”
Cochrane, who is the first Aussie para-swimmer to compete at four Commonwealth Games, said while not his quickest swim he was happy to end his career with another medal.
“That one for me was a bit of an emotional swim,” Cochrane said.
“It’s my last time to represent and swim for Australia.
“So for me, that was one of things racing through my head, but I enjoyed the atmosphere and enjoyed putting the race together.
And at the end of the day, these events don’t count for times. It’s all about results. So I was fortunate enough to pick up a bronze medal which I’m very proud of.”
Cochrane is due to welcome his second child in November and is looking forward to family time and starting a new career as an exercise physiologist.
The Australian women’s para backstrokers were unlucky to miss a spot on the podium with Isabella Vincent touching in fifth and Ella Jones in sixth.
- Erin Smith
KIWI DOWNS LE CLOS IN PET EVENT
Kiwi Lewis Clareburt timed his finishing surge to perfection in the final of the 200m butterfly, out-touching the London Olympic champion Chad Le Clos of South Africa in the last stroke.
The smoker in lane one, James Guy of England, surged home to take the bronze. It was the second gold medal for Clareburt, who was victorious in the 400m individual medley on the first night in the pool. Australian Bowen Gough just missed a medal, finishing fourth while teammate, Brendon Smith, who was also backing up from his silver medal winning performance in the 400m individual medley, finished eighth.
Gough who was competing in his first international final admitted he didn’t swim to his potential, his nerves got to him.
“It was a shame I couldn’t get my hand to the wall a little bit quicker but it was awesome to be part of,” said Gough. “It’s a little bit slower I think than my PB.
“I think if I’d swam that I definitely would have been fighting for the win, which is a little bit frustrating, but again, it’s my first international final.
“I was just a little nervous like the three Englishmen in front of me and the crowd was pretty wild for them.
“So my plan is hopefully for next year to be going in a time that would have won that or even quicker than that.”
- Jacquelin Magnay
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