Commonwealth Games Preview – Day 6 Finals – Medley relay set to close Games with a bang

DAY 6 FINALS – 2014 COMMONWEALTH GAMES

• Finals start at 7PM Glasgow time; 2PM US East Coast time, 2AM Sydney time, 8PM South Africa time

DAY 6 FINALS – EVENT TIMELINE

All times local Glasgow time

• 7:07 pm – Women’s 400 freestyle – final
• 7:16 pm – Men’s 50 freestyle – final
• 7:31 pm – Women’s 50 backstroke – final
• 7:47 pm – Men’s 200 IM – final
• 8:03 pm – Women’s Parasport 200 IM – final
• 8:23 pm – Men’s 1500 freestyle – final
• 9:02 pm – Women’s 4×100 medley relay – final
• 9:12 pm – Men’s 4×100 medley relay – final

ALL THE LINKS YOU NEED TO FOLLOW THE 2014 COMMONWEALTH GAMES CAN BE FOUND HERE

England men vs Australia men from the get-go

Perhaps the highlight of the final session will be the developing national battle between England and Australia, and it’ll show itself in the first men’s event and the last (more on that last event later on). England’s Ben Proud is the top seed in the 50, just ahead of Australia’s Cameron McEvoy, setting up a rivalry showdown early. McEvoy, probably better at the 100/200 distances than the sheer-speed 50, went a lifetime-best 21.92 in last night’s semi-final, but is still a solid margin behind the Brit’s 21.76.

Meanwhile the rest of the field is packed with A-list names. There are fellow Australians Matt Abood and James Magnussen. Trinidad & Tobago veteran George Bovell. South African legend Roland Schoeman. His countryman and the NCAA co-champion Brad Tandy, plus British former Auburn star Adam Brown. That’s a top 8 that can all do some serious damage.

A new world leader in the men’s mile?

The men’s 1500 could likely see the winner take over the world’s top time for 2014. Canadian Ryan Cochrane is the top seed, going 15:03.29 in prelims. The defending Worlds silver medalist will be pushed by a young up-and-comer, though, as Australian Mack Horton has already been faster this season. In fact, Horton sits #2 in the world ranks right now with his winning time from Australian nationals, and Horton is also the Junior World Record-holder in the event.

There’s a good chance that whoever wins this race will usurp Italian Gregorio Paltrinieri for the world’s top time of the year. Paltrinieri, who finished third behind Cochrane and Sun Yang at last summer’s Worlds, has been 14:44.50 this season. Horton was 14:51 at Aussie nationals and Cochrane went 14:42 at Worlds.

Also in the final tonight are Australia’s Jordan Harrison and England’s Daniel Fogg, both returning championship finalists from the World Championships.

Australia-England ends with a bang in men’s 4×100 Medley Relay

As promised earlier, the national rivalry between the Aussie men and the English men will come to a head in the final event, perhaps one of the most-hyped relay races of these Games. Australia has been dominant in this relay for years, but Team England has put together a foursome that, on paper, should be able to crack the win streak.

It starts with the front half, where England has the gold medalists in the 100 back (Chris Walker-Hebborn) and 100 breast (Adam Peaty). They’re strong enough through the butterfly with bronze medalist Adam Barrett (who finished higher than any Australian), but will have to hang on through a freestyle leg where Australia will likely trot out all-world superstar James Magnussen. But will the English lead be too much to overcome? Australia has some issues in the early goings of this race, with their usual breaststroking machine Christian Sprenger limited by a shoulder injury. Mitch Larkin (second to Walker-Hebborn in the 100 back) will likely lead off and should keep things close, and if Magnussen is within striking distance, there’s no doubt English anchor Adam Brown will feel some heat on the closing leg.

The wild card is the South African team. They’ve got a big hole in backstroke, but have World record-holding breaststroker Cameron van der Burgh to team with butterfly sensation Chad le Clos for a daunting middle 200.