Day 3 Finals session got off to a flyer with the first event of the evening delivering Team NI another medal from the pool! First into the pool tonight for Team NI was Barry McClements as he raced the S9 100m Backstroke final. After what was a very controlled morning swim in the heats (1:07.30), McClements swam tonight’s final with absolute assertion. As he walked on to poolside, Barry was laser-focused from the get-go. Opening his 100m race in a first 50m split of 30.93, Barry started strong but continued to get stronger throughout the race. Coming home in a 32.75, McClements hit the pad, turned to the scoreboard and seen a new lifetime best of 1:03.68, securing him the silver medal. Speaking with Barry after his race, Barry spoke about this morning’s heat swim – “this morning, you know, I was going out comfortable, giving it about 85-90% – had a bit of a slip on the start too – so I knew there was plenty in the tank for tonight”. The gold went to Timothy Hodge (AUS) and the bronze to Harrison Vig (AUS). That marks the end of Barry’s Commonwealth Games campaign, and no better way to do so!
Next up into the water was Grace Davison swimming in the Women’s 100m Freestyle semi-final. Racing in heat 1, Grace was in the lane beside Mollie O’Callaghan – Olympic, World & Commonwealth Champion. Tonight was not meant to be for Davison as she touched the wall in a time of 55.12, just 0.7 over her previous best time set in April at the Irish Open & Commonwealth Games Trials.
Adam Bradley performed amazingly this morning during the 50m Breaststroke heats, achieving a new lifetime best of 27.57. It was a stacked semi-final to race in this evening as he stood beside Adam Ramsay-Peaty (ENG) and in the same semi-final as Archie Goodburn, Scotland’s favourite athlete for the event. Although Adam went out and executed his race as he wanted to, the time was not to be as he stuck the pad in a time of 27.64 which placed him 9th overall in the event. Adam will return later in the week in a men’s medley quartet to race the relay.
Lottie Cullen took a full 24 hours after her semi-final last night before returning to the pool tonight for the 100m Backstroke final. Swimming out of lane 8, Lottie started exceptionally well and was in & amongst the race through 50 metres. As the swim progressed, the race got away from the NCU swimmer as she touched the wall in a time of 1:01.61 – 0.8 outside of her semi-final swim. Lottie Cullen looks ahead in the week to the 50m Backstroke and the team relays to come.
Rounding off the evening, Alana Burns-Atkin made her second Commonwealth Games semi-final appearance in the Women’s 100m Butterfly. In what was a very fast semi-final stage for the event, Alana held her own against her competitors, finishing in a time of 1:00.66, a small fraction of a second outside of her lifetime best.
As we cross the halfway point of the swimming programme, Team NI return to Tollcross tomorrow morning for Day 4 of the swimming action.