Ryan Pini wins gold for Papua
New Guinea.
Papua New Guinea won its first gold medal tonight, when Ryan Pini flew home to win the 100m Butterfly Final, narrowly beating Australia’s Michael Klim.
Improving on their semi-final times, Pini clocked 52.86 and Klim 52.64. New Zealand’s Moss Burmester touched for bronze.
Pini said the crowd was incredible “…they cheer for anyone."
Having been pleased with his semi-final swim Michael Klim swam even faster in the Final, again praising the crowd for their support.
“I had no idea where anyone was. I just heard the crowd and I knew I would float."
Following his success in the 100m Breaststroke, England’s Christopher Cook has beaten teammate Darren Mew for the 50m Final title. Australia’s Brenton Rickard took bronze, as he did in the 100m Final.
In a closely-contested final, Englishman Liam Tancock has held off the rest of the Men's 100m Backstroke finalists to claim gold. Another Games Record fell by the wayside as Tancock powered home in 54.53 seconds, taking the gold medal ahead of Australian Matt Welsh, who had held the record after clocking 54.72 in Manchester.
Welsh swam 54.82 to take silver from Gregor Tait of Scotland.
Australia’s first gold in the Men’s Finals was won by 100m EAD Freestyle swimmer Matthew Cowdrey. With a time of 56.73, he set a new World Record.
Silver medallist, Canada’s Benoit Huot, also set a World Record with 53.22. Welshman David Roberts came third.
The 200m Individual Medley produced another gold in the pool for Scotland, with Gregor Tait swimming first in 2:00.73 - his second medal of the day.
New Zealand's Dean Kent (2:01.08) pulled away from the field after the second turn, but TAIT stormed home in the freestyle leg.
Canadian Brian Johns (2:01.56) grabbed the bronze, finishing three tenths of a
second ahead of 19-year-old Australian Leith Brodie.
Scotland has brought with them the most successful swim team of any Commonwealth Games, with Tait indicating he’s hoping for a strong performance in the Medley Relay.
"We are a smaller nation and to come to major games to compete it just means so much," stated Tait. "By Wednesday things will probably start to kick in a bit, when we realise what we have done."
For more results, visit the Aquatics Swimming Schedule and Results section of this Website.
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