Australia are turning the Tollcross Swimming Centre into their own Commonwealth Games pleasure dome after their two ‘Super Sams’ – Sam Short and Sam Williamson – led another remarkable parade of five gold medals.
Mollie O’Callaghan threw aside her ‘unlucky stick’ to win the 200m freestyle, Alex Perkins cast off her ‘bridesmaid’ tag to earn her first major individual crown in the 50m butterfly and Kyle Chalmers won a ninth gold in the mixed freestyle relay to home in on Games history.
But pride of place, as the Dolphins secured nine medals in total after their opening-day haul of six golds, went to muscle-flexing Short, who led an Australian 1-2-3 in the 400m freestyle, and Williamson, who downed British great Adam Ramsay-Peaty in a thrilling 100m breaststroke final.
Meanwhile, star gymnast Georgia Godwin guided Australia to a team gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, making it her ninth Games medal, surpassing Allana Slater in the record books, bringing her haul to three gold, four silver and two bronze medals ahead of the individual all-around and apparatus finals.
Only a year ago, Williamson feared he may never walk again after rupturing his patella tendon in training.
But the 28-year-old Victorian was left a picture of emotion at poolside as he thanked his family after beating world record holder Ramsay-Peaty, who was consigned to bronze.
‘Mentally it was the toughest challenge I’ve ever had to face,’ said Williamson, who forged through with a powerful second length to win in 59.17 seconds.
‘Every single day I wanted to throw in the towel but I knew how far I’d come to get to that point.’
Short, who’s shooting for five gold medals in Glasgow, destroyed the field by more than four seconds in 3 minutes 41.25 seconds on Sunday morning (AEST) before offering a muscle man celebration.
Australia are turning the Tollcross Swimming Centre into their own Commonwealth Games pleasure dome after their two ‘Super Sams’ – Sam Short and Sam Williamson – led another remarkable parade of five gold medals
Only a year ago, Williamson feared he may never walk again after rupturing his patella tendon in training (pictured, Williamson celebrating his win with his partner)
‘It doesn’t come around too often and you’ve got to make the most of it,’ said the Queenslander of his extravagant flex.
‘I saw my idols do that on the lane ropes so I was like, you know, why not?!’
Behind the 22-year-old Queenslander, there was a battle royal before Elijah Winnington (3:45.56) pipped teammate Ben Goedemans by one-hundredth of a second.
It was a formidable effort from Winnington, who revealed afterwards he’d spent most of the previous night over a toilet bowl after a bout of food poisoning.
Short was thrilled how the sweep echoed the 400m free 1-2-3 in Birmingham four years ago when Winnington led home Short, with Mack Horton nabbing the bronze.
‘It just goes to show the rich history of Australian 400m swimming and it’s super special,’ said Winnington.
O’Callaghan, who’d anchored the women’s 4x100m freestyle-winning quartet the night before, picked up her second gold, showing no vestiges of the stress fractures and bone bruising in her back that had cast a cloud over her participation.
‘Dealing with the injury currently is not the best thing ever, but as an athlete you’ve got to find ways to adapt,’ said the delighted Queenslander, who stopped the clock at 1:54.66 to Lani Pallister’s 1:55.01, having always been in control.
Star gymnast Georgia Godwin guided Australia to a team gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, making it her ninth Games medal, surpassing Allana Slater in the record books, bringing her haul to three gold, four silver and two bronze medals ahead of the individual all-around and apparatus finals
Kyle Chalmers won a ninth gold in the mixed freestyle relay to home in on Games history (pictured, Chalmers, Flynn Southam and Shayna Jack)
‘That’s the best part about sport – you get hit with an unlucky stick and then you’ve got to pick yourself back up.
‘Doing modified training and adapting to that and seeing how I go off that, it’s just incredible.’
It was an emotional evening for Perkins, two days before her 26th birthday, as she took the butterfly dash in 25.37 seconds.
‘I don’t even think I really believed that I’d ever be at this level so I’m just taking it all in,’ beamed the Queenslander, who’d previously won four major individual medals but never made the top of the podium.
There was never any doubt the Australian freestylers would make it five golds as Flynn Southam, Chalmers, Shayna Jack and Meg Harris set a new Games record in the mixed relay, clocking 3:19.36 in a procession.
It’s left Chalmers on nine gold career Commonwealth Games medals, and if he can deliver another in the 100m freestyle, he’ll surpass Ian Thorpe as the most successful Australian men’s swimmer in the history of the Games.
Paralympic silver medallist Jack Ireland savoured another second-place finish in the 200m freestyle S14 final for Australia’s sixth medal in the para events in the pool.
