Cam McEvoy’s Glasgow gold has him looking to Los Angeles with confidence as he headlined another strong night for Australia’s Commonwealth Games swim team.
The sprint ace dominated the 50m freestyle final on Sunday night, going under 21 seconds for only the second time. It is McEvoy’s first individual gold medal at his third Commonwealth Games.
McEvoy’s Games-record 20.97 seconds follows his 20.88 world record in March and continues his remarkable swimming renaissance.
He led home an Australian medal sweep in the event – one of five swimming gold medals on day three – but the time was the bigger deal as he looks to defend his Olympic title at the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
“It [gold] is really good, but I’m more excited about ducking under the 21-second barrier,” he said. “A double whammy for me. It was a really good night.
“I really wanted to prove to myself that I can consistently get under that [21 seconds]. So to do that for a second time, that brings me a lot of confidence for the world championships next year, LA, moving forward.”
After a disappointing Tokyo Olympics, McEvoy took a sabbatical and nearly left the sport. He completely overhauled his training and returned for a stunning Paris triumph in the 50m freestyle.
“Prior to Paris, I still had the, I guess … the demons to work with in terms of my Olympic relationship,” he said.
“I was able to overcome them, but also I’ve been open-sourcing this type of training for a long time.
“The world is getting faster. I can’t just cruise into it.”
Flynn Southam won silver and Jamie Jack was third to complete the Australian sweep.
Lani Pallister dominates 1500m
As McEvoy ruled the one-lap dash, Lani Pallister remained similarly untouchable in distance freestyle events at the Games and turned the 1500m into a personal time trial and her second Glasgow gold.
After taking out the 400m on day one, Pallister won the 1500 by nearly 18 seconds as the women’s event made its debut at the Games.
But there was no Australian procession in the men’s 4x200m freestyle final.
For once, it was a genuine race and England led at the last change before Kai Taylor’s blistering anchor leg delivered the last gold medal of day three and another Games record.
Sam Short, Harry Turner, Ed Sommerville and Taylor clocked seven minutes 1.47 seconds to break the Games record Australia set in Birmingham.
Iona Anderson had an emotional hug with her Scottish grandmother after winning the 100m backstroke. She had tartan nails as a nod to her heritage.
Australia’s opening ceremony baton bearer Tim Hodge successfully defended his Games 100m backstroke S9 title.
Australian swimmers have now collected 16 gold medals in three days, entrenching their country atop the overall Games medal standings.
But Matthew Temple suffered a bad case of deja vu, the Australian again losing to Canadian star Josh Liendo in a record-breaking 100m butterfly final.
Liendo beat Temple by one one-hundredth of a second and fellow Australian Ben Armbruster took bronze.
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The Olympic silver medallist clocked 50.42 seconds while Temple touched the wall in 50.43, going under the Games record of 50.63 that the Australian had set on day two in the semi-finals.
Scott wins gymnastics silver, but Godwin misses podium
Drawing inspiration from her “idol” and teammate Georgia Godwin, Australian gymnast Breanna Scott has broken through for individual all-around silver in Glasgow.
All eyes were on defending champion Godwin, but it was Scott who led the charge for Australia as the Canadian great Ellie Black won gold at Glasgow International Stadium.
Black’s 16-year-old teammate Lia-Monica Fontaine followed for bronze, while Godwin settled for fifth after guiding Australia to a team gold the day before.
Scott wins her first individual medal at the Games, having won team silver on debut in Birmingham.
“It’s pretty crazy. I don’t really think it’s sunk in yet,” Scott said. “There’s been so much that’s happened in the last 24 hours.”
The Sydney local credited Godwin and Black for pushing her to the limit in Glasgow.
“They’re both like such great role models. Georgia is like basically all of our idols in the team,” Scott said.
“We look up to her. She’s just so great to have there. She’s the most supportive person you could have on the team.
“And obviously Ellie, like she’s an icon of the sport so it was really great to be competing with both of them.”
After a quiet start on the vault and uneven bars, beam specialist Scott surged into medal contention after scoring 13.900 points in her pet event.
Scott was on target to claim gold at the final rotation after her floor routine netted her 12.800 points, but Canada’s Black did just enough to claim gold.
The 24-year-old Australian will again take to the balance beam for the individual apparatus final with teammate Kate McDonald.
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