2022 Commonwealth Games, Day 3 Prelims Preview: Schoenmaker Set for Return

2022 COMMONWEALTH GAMES

• Friday, July 29 – Wednesday, August 3, 2022
• Birmingham, England
• Sandwell Aquatic Center
• Start Times
  • Prelims: 10:30 am local / 5:30 am ET
  • Finals: 7:00 pm local / 2:00 pm ET
• LCM (50m)
• Meet Central
• Event Schedule
• Entry List
• Entries (in seed order) – h/t to Troyy
• Live Results

The third day of the 2022 Commonwealth Games kicks off with five morning heats in the men’s 200 butterfly, women’s 200 breaststroke, men’s 50 backstroke, women’s 50 fly, and men’s 100 freestyle. 

Tatjana Schoenmaker will swim the women’s 200 breast Sunday in her first international meet since setting the world record in 2:18.95 at last summer’s Tokyo Olympics. Her season-best time is only a 2:24.01, but it seems like the 25-year-old South African is saving her best for Birmingham. Molly Renshaw, Abbie Wood, Jenna Strauch, and Kaylene Corbett should also be in medal contention tonight if they qualify this morning. Watch out for dark horse Taylor McKeown, who is competing in her first major international meet since 2018. 

In the first scheduled event, the men’s 200 fly, James Guy is looking to snatch the crown from defending champion Chad le Clos. Guy, a 26-year-old Englishman, is the only contestant sub-1:55 this season with a 1:54.91, but le Clos went 1:54.93 at the Olympics last summer, so tonight’s final could be a tight one. 

Isaac Cooper’s absence from the men’s 50 back opens the door for Pieter Coetze to pick up another victory after winning Saturday’s 100 back title. The 18-year-old South African has posted five 24-point times this year despite missing the World Championships. Besides Coetze, New Zealand’s Andrew Jeffcoat is the only other swimmer sub-25 this year, but reigning champion Mitch Larkin could also have something left in the tank to defend his title. Larkin will be looking to bounce back after clocking a 25.47 at Worlds last month, well off his personal best. Those three medal hopefuls will be in separate heats on Sunday morning. 

We won’t have to wait long to witness round two of the thrilling battle between Maggie MacNeil and Emma McKeon, which lived up to the hype in Saturday night’s 100 fly final. Both finished under the previous Commonwealth Games record by McKeon, but MacNeil edged the Aussie by .02 seconds with a 56.36 for the win. Expect 34-year-old Aussie veteran Holly Barratt to remain in the mix, too.

Kyle Chalmers should be hungry to top the podium in the men’s 100 free after earning runner-up finishes at the 2018 Commonwealth Games (behind le Clos) and last summer’s Olympics (behind Caeleb Dressel). He stuck to butterfly events at Worlds last month to give his shoulder more time to recover after undergoing surgery late last year, but he didn’t appear rusty in the men’s 4×100 free relay on Saturday, splitting 47.02 to hold off a ferocious rally by England’s Tom Dean (46.70). Along with Dean, Chalmers’ top competition figures to come from fellow Englishman Lewis Burras and Canada’s Josh Liendo.