2022 Commonwealth Games: Day 4 Finals Preview

2022 COMMONWEALTH GAMES

• Friday, July 29 – Wednesday, August 3, 2022
• Birmingham, England
• Sandwell Aquatic Center
• Start Times
  • Prelims: 10:30 am local / 5:30 am ET
  • Finals: 7:00 pm local / 2:00 pm ET
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Event Schedule
• Entry List (PDF)
• Live Results

We’re over halfway though the Commonwealth Games, and we’ve got another loaded finals session on Day 4. There are finals of the men’s 100 free, women’s 200 back, women’s 200 IM,

Day 4 Finals Full Schedule

• Men’s 100 Free Final
• Women’s 200 Back Final
• Men’s 50 Breast Semifinals
• Women’s 100 Free Semifinals
• Men’s 100 Fly Semifinals
• Women’s 200 IM Final
• Men’s 50 Free S7 Final
• Women’s 100 Breast SB6 Final
• Men’s 50 Back Final
• Women’s 50 Fly Final
• Women’s 100 Breast Semifinals
• Men’s 4×200 Free Relay Final

DAY 4 FINALS START LIST (no relay lineups)

Day 4 Finals Scratches

Women’s 100 Free Semifinals

• #13 Erin Gallagher (RSA)

Men’s 100 Fly Semifinals

• #14 Matt Sates (RSA)
• #16 Evan Jones (SCO)
• #18 Andrew Ross (RSA)

Men’s 100 Free

Kyle Chalmers dropped a statement swim in the semis, ripping 47.36 for a new Commonwealth Games record. It was a huge season-best for the Aussie, and the second-fastest time in the world this year. Chalmers settled for silver in 2018, but heading into this final, he’s about half a second up on second seed Tom Dean. He’s set himself up as the man to beat here.

Speaking of Dean, he clocked 47.83 in the semis to break 48 seconds for the first time. He’s had a strong progression in the 100 free this season; at British Championships, he set the best of 48.06 that he eclipsed here. Dean opted for the 200 IM over the 100 free at Worlds, but he’s put himself right in the medal of the medal conversation.

No one else cracked 48 seconds in the semis, but William Yang hit his own lifetime best 48.38. World Champs bronze medalist Josh Liendo and 2018 champion Duncan Scott qualified in fifth and sixth–watch for both of them to make a serious push in the final.

Women’s 200 Back

We’ll get a rematch of Kaylee McKeown and Kylie Masse in the 200 back. On Day 3’s 100 back, McKeown came from behind to out-touch Masse and clip .03 off Masse’s old Commonwealth Games record. McKeown favors the 200 much more than Masse, so it looks like we’ll get a repeat of the top two steps of the women’s 100 back podium here. Both cruised this morning, putting up 2:10.95 and 2:11.27, respectively.

Behind them, there’s a tight battle for third brewing. Minna Atherton and Katie Shanahan are separated by just a tenth of a second. 17-year-old Holly McGill is making her Commonwealth Games debut and she’s sitting at 2:13.03. That’s about two seconds back from Atherton and Shanahan, but if either of them falter, the young Scot could be there to take advantage.

Women’s 200 IM

After an incredible 400 IM, Summer McIntosh cruised to the top seed in the women’s 200 IM in prelims, posting 2:12.12. Even with the quick turnaround from Worlds the teen star has been swimming well, so can anyone beat her here? It looks like it will be a tough ask.

Kaylee McKeown is the most likely candidate to beat McIntosh for gold. She’ll be on her second swim of her 200 back/200 IM double, which she already did once in prelims. The good news for her though, is that she’ll have more time between her two races than she did in the heats (though she will likely have to attend a medal ceremony). McKeown snuck into the final in seventh, so keep an eye on lane 1 as she could provide some outside smoke.

Also in the mix is South Africa’s Rebecca Meder, who didn’t let McIntosh get too far away from her in the heats and touched in 2:12.57. Then, there’s Mary-Sophie Harvey, Abbie Wood, and Abbey Harkin, all at 2:13 lows and separated by .06 seconds. There’ve been several events at these Games that have been lacking depth; this isn’t one of them.

Men’s S7 50 Free

Australia’s Matthew Levy leads this field in 28.47. Levy is a decorated Paralympic swimmer, and he’ll be the favorite in this race. However, it’s a full field, and it would be a mistake to count out either South Africa’s Christian Sadie or Singapore’s Wei Soong Toh. Toh is the only swimmer other than Levy who’s entered with a sub-30 second time, but Sadie isn’t too far off in 30.35.

Women’s SB6 100 Breast

It’s Canada, Australia, and England all the way down in the women’s SB6 100 breast, as each has two entrants to make up the entire field. The now retured Tiffany Thomas Kane holds the SB6 world record in 1:35.39, and Maisie Summers-Newton is entered with a time about three seconds faster than that, so we could possibly see our second world record go down at these Games.

Last night’s men’s SB8 100 breast was one of the most exciting races of the night, as 17-year-old Joshua Wilmer passed Timothy Hodge on the final stroke to earn gold. While Summers-Peters looks like a lock for gold, as her time is about 11 seconds ahead of the next fastest qualifier Grace Harvey, being on record watch provides it’s own kind of excitement.

Men’s 50 Back

South Africa’s Pieter Coetze and New Zealand’s Andrew Jeffcoat are separated by just one hundredth of a second coming into the final. They qualified in 24.81 and 24.82, respectively, promising a great race for gold tonight. Coetze is the 100 back champion, but anything could happen in a splash-and-dash, plus the New Zealand team have been swimming incredibly well so far.

They qualified four-tenths ahead of the rest of the field, so it looks like the top two spots will go to them, in some order. Behind them though, the race is wide open. Ben Armbruster, Bradley Woodward, Javier Acevedo and Scott Gibson all hit 25.2s in the semifinals. With a great race tonight, any one of them is capable of claiming a medal.

Women’s 50 Fly

In the women’s 50 fly, we’ll get Emma McKeon versus Maggie MacNeil, round 2. MacNeil came out on top in the 100 fly, and looked controlled in the semis, qualifying third in 26.19. One advantage for MacNeil is that McKeon will race in the 100 free semis earlier in the session, which MacNeil isn’t swimming. That said, McKeon took it very easy this morning in the 100 free prelims, and probably won’t have to do exert too much more energy to secure a lane for the final.

South Africa’s Erin Gallagher looks to spoil the party. In semis, she dropped 26.17, breaking her own South African record and qualifying in second behind McKeon. McKeon and MacNeil will certainly speed up in the final, so Gallagher will likely have to go another best if she wants to break into the top two. But, she’s proven herself to be on form, so we could see her lower her own record again.

Men’s 4×200 Free Relay

Lacking enough entrants for prelims, the men’s 4×200 freestyle relay has gone straight to the final round. In most international meets, we’ve come to know Team GB as the team to beat. However, they’re all split into their home nations for these Games, that weakens the field considerably.

However, we got a sneak peek at England’s likely lineup at Worlds. With Duncan Scott out of the meet, the four men on the British relay were all English and we expect them to team up again here. Australia also brings the same team from Worlds, which beat the Brits in Budapest, 7:03.50 to 7:04.00. We think this gives Australia the edge, but it’s a coin toss. None of the Australian quartet dipped under 1:45 at Worlds, but they’re all capable of it, including bronze medalist Elijah Winnington. Given that Tom Dean is unlikely to be faster than his 1:43.5 split from Worlds, England will rely on their other three legs to step up if they want to pip Australia for gold.

Semifinals Quick Hits

• Adam Peaty rebounded well after missing the men’s 100 breast podium; tying with Michael Houlie in heat 6 for the top time of the morning in 27.10. 100 breast bronze medalist Sam Williamson got off to a fast start this morning too, hitting 27.20 to qualify third. That’s a lifetime best for Williamson by almost three-tenths, and sets him up well heading into the semis.
• The women’s 100 free prelims were nothing to write home about, with Mollie O’Callaghan posting the top time of the in 54.28. Everyone seemed happy to cruise through to the semis, with Emma McKeon swimming 55.36. Expect the field to kick it into another gear tonight. The Aussies will almost certainly leave a lot left in the tank for finals, but they’ll be faster tonight too.
• Josh Liendo sits comfortably as the top seed in the men’s 100 fly by almost a second. This will be his second swim of the session, as he has the 100 free final to kick things off, so expect him to just do what he needs to in order to get safely through to the final. On the other end of the spectrum, 2018 champion and games Record holder Chad Le Clos qualified ninth, so he’ll have to be quicker tonight to move up and get a lane in the final.
• The women’s 100 breast was all about the South Africans, as Lara van Niekerk and Tatjana Shoenmaker qualifying first and second. Their teammate Kaylene Cortbett also move through to the semis safely. England and Australia also got all three of their entrants through, so look for those nine women to fight it out for the final–at least one person is going to miss out.