Article by Zac Rayson and staff writers courtesy of Fox Sports.
Australia has continued its domination at the Commonwealth Games overnight with NINE gold medals, highlighted by a big win for Kyle Chalmers in the pool.
Chalmers won the premiere 100m freestyle event on Tuesday morning, touching the wall in 47.51 seconds to beat England’s Tom Dean and Scotland’s Duncan Scott.
In victory, Chalmers put his finger to his mouth having been at the centre of what he called “fake news” about his relationship with ex-partner and fellow swim gun Emma McKeon.
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“I thought about it before,” he said of his celebration. “Normally I do a bit more powerful celebration after a win but that one was you know, one that probably means more than giving a fist bump or flexing the muscles.
“It is special to win but unfortunately I think it is hard to enjoy the moment when all that has happened has gone on.
“It makes it a challenging time. I am grateful that I was people — able to block it out enough to stand up and winter night. I hope this is a learning point for everybody. And I hope nobody else has to go through what I have gone through.”
The gold medals came in thick and fast in the pool with Kaylee McKeown following on from Chalmers by winning gold in the 200m backstroke, before claiming silver in the 200m individual medley moments later.
Matthew Levy made it a third gold in the pool for the night for Australia by winning the men’s 50m freestyle S7 in what was his final race before retirement.
Emma McKeon then extended her stunning Commonwealth Games gold medals record with a hard-fought, narrow win in the 50m butterfly. The win takes her to 12 Commonwealth Games gold medals.
Capping off the night was victory, and a Commonwealth Games record, for Australians Elijah Winnington, Zac Incerti, Mack Horton and Flynn Southam in the 4x200m freestyle relay.
Cody Simpson is through to the final of an individual event with the former pop star going through to the final of the men’s 100m butterfly, along with Matthew Temple.
Earlier, McKeon once again starred in the pool in the women’s 100m freestyle heats, with fellow Aussies Shayna Jack and Mollie O’Callaghan also successfully qualifying for the semi-finals.
O’Callaghan qualified first in 54.28s, ahead of Jack, third in a comfortable 54.28s.
“I was definitely trying to hold back,” Jack said after her race.
McKeon only managed third-fastest in her heat and sixth-fastest overall as she cruised to the finish in 55.36s.
The 28-year-old won the same event at the Tokyo Games last year and is a massive chance of doing the same in Birmingham.
