Comm Games Live: Can Aussie megastar break world’s oldest record?

While the first of the action is the heats, there are plenty of storylines to follow.

Will Cody back up an incredible build up and reach some finals? Will he be included int he relay team where the love triangle could reunite? Can Ariarne Titmus claim the 200m freestyle world record – one she so desperately wants to snatch away from Federica Pellegrini.

It’s the oldest world record in women’s swimming and we want an Aussie name next to it.

Also in this swim sesh we will see Tokyo hero Zac Stubblety-Cook and Elijah Winnington.

SWIMMING

Session 1

19.30 – 21.30 (AEST)

Men’s 400m Freestyle Heats

Women’s 400m Individual Medley Heats

Women’s 200m Freestyle Heats

Men’s 100m Backstroke S9 Heat

Women’s 100m Freestyle S9 Heat

Men’s 50m Butterfly Heats

Women’s 50m Breaststroke Heats

Men’s 100m Backstroke Heats

Women’s 100m Butterfly Heats

Men’s 200m Breaststroke Heats

Mixed 4x100m Freestyle Relay Heats

By Heath Kelly in Birmingham

New 400m freestyle world champion Elijah Winnington showed just what kind of brilliant form he is on the opening morning of swimming at the Commonwealth Games.

Winnington was under world record pace for the first half of his 400m heat before taking his foot off the gas to hold off his teammate Sam Short to qualify for Friday night’s (Sat morning AEST) final.

Winnington, Short and Mack Horton all qualified for the final and are genuine chance of making a clean sweep of the medals.

Winnington’s time of 3:48.22 over sevens seconds behind his winning time at the world championships in Budapest showing just how much is left in the tank.

Horton, who failed to make the final in Budapest, guaranteed his spot in the Commonwealth Games final by finishing second in Heat 2 behind Northern Ireland’s Dan Wiffen. Horton’s time of 3:47.54 qualifying him in second spot.

Wiffen will start from lane four with Horton and Winnington on either side in lanes five and six.

By Simeon Thomas-Wilson in London

Australia’s women’s pursuit team has seriously flexed their muscles in qualifying for the 4000m pursuit, posting a new Commonwealth Games record.

The Australian team of Georgia Baker, Maeve Plouffe, Sophie Edwards and Chloe Moran were considered the team to beat in the 4000m team pursuit and they lived up to the expectation and more with an impressive ride to lay down the marker.

They finished with a time of 4:14.605, a new Games record.

New Zealand lost Ellesse Andrews early on in their ride but were still able to post a quicker time than host nation England – despite having the legendary Dame Laura Kelly in their ride.

Australia will take on New Zealand in the gold medal race.

New Zealand suffered a huge blow just days out from the Commonwealth Games beginning after young gun Ally Wollaston fractured her wrist after crashing at the Tour de France Femmes.

This meant New Zealand had to use Andrews, who is a sprinter, in the early stages of the pursuit because they were short of numbers.

Meanwhile, Jess Gallagher has breezed into the women’s tandem sprint final.

After posting the fastest time in qualifying with pilot Caitlin Ward, to lay down a serious marker, Gallagher was able to comfortably account for Scotland’s Libby Clegg – piloted by Jenny Holl.

They will take on Scotland’s Aileen McGlynn and pilot Ellie Stone in the decider.

7PM AEST ‘NEVER KNEW SUCH HOMOPHOBIA EXISTED IN AUSTRALIA’

Olympic diver Tom Daley has taken aim at Australia saying he had “no idea such homophobia still existed” amid the Manly Pride round jersey fiasco.

The British diver – who won’t be competing at the Commonwealth Games after taking a break from competition – carried the Queen’s Baton into the Opening Ceremony on Thursday night (local time) surrounded by rainbow flag bearers as he made “a historic” stand against homophobia.

A long-standing advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, Daley was asked for his thoughts on the pride jersey saga which has divided Manly’s playing group after seven players boycotted the club’s do-or-die clash against the Roosters.

“I see Australia as this very liberal place, so to see homophobia like that still exists is concerning,” Daley told Fairfax.

“I had no idea that such homophobia still existed in Australia.

“Good on the players who wanted to play. I don’t think [the NRL] should stand for such strong views against a marginalised population. How would it be if you took a stance against any kind of minority? Why is it OK to do that against queer people?”

Earlier this week, Daley who married husband Dustin Lance Black in 2017, highlighted the number of Comm Games competing nations where same sex relationships remain illegal and in some cases carry a sentence of life imprisonment.

“Thirty-five out of the 56 Commonwealth member states criminalise same-sex relations,” Daly, who married husband Dustin Lance Black in 2017, told the Guardian. “That’s half the countries in the world that outlaw homosexuality.

“LGBT+ athletes must be safe and feel comfortable being their authentic selves without fear of persecution or death.”

By Joe Barton

It took Australia just 35 seconds to flex their muscle as serious gold medal fancies before a dominant first-half blitz cemented a statement win in the women’s rugby Sevens opener.

In a brutal first half that consisted of one-way traffic in the direction of the South African tryline, Australia ran in four tries, barely had to make a tackle and sent a warning shot to all of their Commonwealth Games rivals.

Madison Levi, who bagged a first-half double, opened the scoring before many people at the Coventry Stadium had a chance to take their seats – sprinting 60m down the sideline to kick-start the rout.

Veteran Charlotte Caslick, one of the last remaining links to the 2016 Rio Olympics gold medal winners, scored a double either side of halftime – including a sensational 90m try to open the scoring in the second half.

Speedster Faith Nathan also found her way onto the scoreboard, while Madi Ashby scored after the fulltime siren to close out the 38-0 shellacking.

“It’s been a long week,” Levi said. “The first game is always a bit of a battle, but I feel we were becoming a bit fresher as the game went on.

“The sisterhood and the culture we’ve built, we play for one another. I want to win a gold medal as much as my sister next to me. We all play effort on effort.”

Australia will next play Scotland in the evening session on Friday.

5:40 PM The Terminator out to get what should already be hers

– Julian Linden

Ariarne Titmus wants to officially claim the world record that she should already have in her possession — but has been robbed of the title by swimming’s bumbling officials.

The double Olympic champion already has the 400m freestyle record after knocking Katie Ledecky off her perch and now she wants the 200m record she deserves.

If swimming was fair dinkum, Titmus would already have the record, but the clueless FINA officials who allowed the sport to be hijacked by super suits more than a decade ago, dropped the ball.

Despite being warned what was coming, they stood back and did nothing as some of the greatest records in swimming were sunk by competitors aided by suits that provided extra buoyancy.

Those suits were later banned, but shamefully, the records set in them were allowed to stand, torpedoing some of the sport’s greatest achievements and denying future generations their places in the history books. The oldest record in women’s swimming is the 200m freestyle mark of 1:52.98 set by Italy’s Federica Pellegrini at the infamous 2009 world championships in Rome.

OPENING CEREMONY RECAP: ENGLAND’S MESSAGE OF INCLUSION

Considered untouchable for 13 years, suddenly it’s under siege from Titmus, who has twice come within half a second of breaking it, going 1:53.09 at last year’s Olympic trials then 1:53.31 at the Australian championships in May.

The Terminator has made no secret she wants the record and has another great shot at breaking it on the opening day of swimming finals at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

“That’s definitely a big goal of mine,” she told News Corp. “But I’m not going to prioritise it though because if I really think about it, it’s not going to happen. So I just need to keep training the way I have and hopefully that’s going to make me better.”

Aussie swim fans love Titmus because she fights like a tiger in the pool and she calls things as they are on dry land.

And when it comes to Pellegrini’s record, Titmus is spot-on when she says the reason it’s been so hard for anyone to break is because the Italian got a helping hand from the now-banned outfit she wore.

“The suit definitely helped her in the back end,” Titmus said. “Her last 50m was insane, so if you‘re right on the (world record) line with 50m to go there’s no way that you’re going to get it.

“Every time I’ve been close to it, you go back and watch the race and I’m half a body length in front of it with 20m to go and then just the extra buoyancy made her last part of the race just incredibly fast.”

If the tainted supersuit times were wiped from the books, Titmus would hold the fastest three times in history, but currently sits in second, third and fourth place.

The trick for Titmus is pacing the race to perfection. Because she is not a natural speedster, her best work comes in the second half of the race, but to combat Pellegrini’s, she also needs to go out fast and keep enough in reserve to charge home.

“It is possible but for me to go out quicker in the 200m, it takes a lot more physical exertion than for the specialist 100m swimmers,” she said. “To be going out as fast as them on the first 100m in the 200m free, that’s really motoring for me, so it’s about trying to make that as easy as possible so that my back end can be there.

“It’s an incredible record and it’s no wonder it hasn’t been broken.

“Even the times where I have come close, I’ve been really happy with the races, but it’s just an incredibly fast time.”

4:30 PM CANADIAN POOL PARTY POOPER

A young woman on a mission? Or a glutton for punishment?

Canada’s rising swim sensation Summer McIntosh could be a bit of both. If the experts are right, the 15-year-old is on her way to becoming the next big thing in women’s swimming — even that means gate crashing the pool party for Australia’s golden girls.

From a swimming family, McIntosh’s mother Jill Horstead swam for Canada at the Los Angeles Olympics, and her teenage daughter is already so highly regarded in the sport that the Australian swimwear maker Funkita has signed her up as a global ambassador. McIntosh’s best is still yet to come but she has already made a massive splash in the sport, chasing home Ariarne Titmus and Katie Ledecky at the Tokyo Olympics when she was 14.

She just won two individual gold medals at last month’s world championships — all before she’s old enough to get a driver’s licence — and she’s about to take the plunge at the Commonwealth Games.

Her clash with Titmus in the 400m freestyle is building up as one of the biggest blockbuster races in Birmingham. Titmus has already beaten McIntosh once — and easily — by almost six seconds in Tokyo when she was preoccupied fighting off Ledecky for the gold.

Impressively, ‘Arnie’ has improved her best time by 0.19 seconds in the past year to claim Ledecky’s world record but it’s not the American who looms as her biggest threat going forward; It’s the pint-sized Canadian who has carved more than three seconds off her best time in the last 12 months and is closing in quick. In an exclusive interview, McIntosh revealed she had learnt a lot from watching and racing against Titmus and was now better prepared.

“I’m just really excited to race her again since it’s been a while since the Olympics and I was obviously quite far behind so it wasn’t much of a race.

CONDOM WARNING FOR COMM GAMES ATHLETES

Stock up on sun cream, hats and condoms — and be aware of monkeypox at the Birmingham 2022.

That’s the advice from the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to the tens of thousands of visitors attending the Commonwealth Games.

The UKHSA is warning of possible infections spreading in the city, as well as sexually transmitted diseases and the effects of hot weather combined with excessive boozing.

With the weather set to be sunny and hot over the course of the Games, Caryn Cox, health protection consultant with UKHSA West Midlands, is advising people to stay hydrated and practice safe sex.

“The Met Office is forecasting a sizzling few weeks during the Games, so we all need to slap on the sun cream, a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses, seek shade at the hottest times of the day (11am to 3pm) and stay hydrated.

“Having so many people coming together to watch the Games and enjoy the celebratory events taking place across the region, there is a greater risk of spreading infections, whether it’s a stomach bug that can spread by poor hand hygiene or infections including COVID-19.

“In both instances, it’s best to stay at home if you’re ill. Also, it’s advisable that you’re up to date with your routine vaccinations, like MMR, MenACWY and COVID-19 before mixing with lots of people.

“With a party atmosphere and lots of people visiting the region, it’s really important to practise safe sex, to prevent possible spread of sexually transmitted infections. So, remember to use condoms, and if you’ve had unprotected sex, get tested for STIs.

“While monkeypox isn’t an STI, it can be transmitted through close physical contact, so look out for any symptoms and contact a sexual health clinic if you suspect you may have that or any sexually transmitted infection.”

WHAT’S ON? SEE THE FULL COMM GAMES SCHEDULE HERE

HOST NATION’S WARNING FOR AUSSIES

Game on, England.

There may be 72 countries in Birmingham for the Commonwealth Games — but it’s the rivalry between the two big name countries that is the main event.

England fired the first shot this week when its Chef de Mission Mark England said the number one priority was to finish ahead of Australia on the medal tally.

But with the Australians forecasting more than 80 medals in the pool alone, that isn’t going to be an easy task.

At the last Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in 2018, host nation Australia won the Ashes battle with 198 medals, including 80 golds, compared to England’s 136 gongs, of which 45 were gold.

“Our aspiration is to top the medal table,” said Mark England, the aptly named chef de mission of Team England. ‘That is what we are here for.

“It will be a pretty good arm wrestle with Australia. Everyone wants to come to the host nation and do the best they can against them.

“But we have 429 athletes and 500 support staff who absolutely want to top the medal table — and we have a nation that wants to do that as well. We are going to give it everything.

“I can’t say where we will be in two weeks’ time because sport is not predictable.

“But everything we could have possibly done to support the athletes is in play.”

In England’s squad, there are more women than men — 226 to 203 — for the first time and there are 67 para athletes.”

Birmingham 2022 is the biggest multi-sport event in this country since London 2012.

Australia’s Chef de Mission Petria Thomas says the team was determined to finish at number one.

“I think, you know, we’ve made no secret of the fact that we’d love to finish on top of the medal tall,” she said.

“We had a very strong Commonwealth Games at home on the Gold Coast but we’re away from home and it’s always harder when you’re away. And we’re also on English home soil.

“So we’re well aware that it will be a fight but I think it the athletes will compete with such spirit they’ll fight every result.

“Hopefully we can give it a good crack and take that number one spot again.”

Originally published as Commonwealth Games Day 1 live: Latest news, results and talking points from Birmingham