Monday 4 October 2010

Australia bags 4X100 freestyle Gold

A storming finish by teenager James Magnussen has helped Australia break the Commonwealth Games record and claim the 4x100m freestyle relay gold medal at Delhi.

The team of Kyle Richardson, Eamon Sullivan, Tommaso D'Orsogna and Magnussen clocked 3:13.92 to finish ahead of England (3:15.05) and South Africa (3:15.21).

The effort eclipsed the previous Games record of 3:14.97 set by South Africa in Melbourne 2006.

Former world record holder Eamon Sullivan's scorching second leg of 47.49 seconds moved a sluggish Australia from fourth to first.

D'Orsogna kept Australia in front until the final change before England's Adam Brown ambushed Magnussen.

The 19-year-old looked gone when Brown led at the final turn before he found another gear to seal Australia's third gold medal of the opening night in the pool.

It was a welcome relief for the Australian men in the swimming team, who have been forced to play second fiddle to their female counterparts in recent years.

Their lowest point came in the 2006 Melbourne Games, when the Australian men managed just one gold - in the 4x100m medley relay on the final night of competition.

That trend looked set to continue when red hot favourite Nick D'Arcy failed to make the 200m butterfly final.

Then Ryan Napoleon - who overcame a drug ban and Delhi belly to make the 400m freestyle final - was pipped at the post by Canada's Ryan Cochrane.

Olympic silver medalist Sullivan said the men's team had been inspired to earn their first gold medal of the Games following D'Arcy's debacle.

"After a bit of a shock with D'Arcy missing the final, we wanted to come out and produce the goods and set the tone for the rest of the meet for the guys," he said.

"That's what we have got to carry through for the rest of the meet."

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