SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side, or you can find the poll embedded at the bottom of this post.
Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers which swimmer impressed them the most at the Commonwealth Games among those who didn’t race at the World Championships:
Question: Among those who didn’t race at Worlds, which swimmer impressed you the most at the Commonwealth Games?
RESULTS
- Ariarne Titmus – 50.9%
- Emma McKeon – 23.8%
- Duncan Scott – 16.4%
- Adam Peaty – 5.5%
- Tatjana Schoenmaker – 3.5%
Each swimmer listed in the poll came into the Commonwealth Games with a different backdrop to their year.
Ariarne Titmus, Emma McKeon and Tatjana Schoenmaker all sat out of the World Championships voluntarily, but Titmus had shown she was in sensational form earlier in the year, lighting up the Australian Championships in May.
Schoenmaker had raced a little bit and looked so-so, while McKeon hadn’t made any notable competition appearances, making her status a bit of a question mark.
For the men, both Duncan Scott and Adam Peaty were planning on racing at the World Championships, but were forced to pull out for health reasons. Scott was dealing with the aftereffects of COVID-19, while Peaty suffered a broken foot.
As a result, each swimmer’s expectations, and therefore how one would gauge their performance at the Commonwealth Games as ‘impressive’ was a little bit different.
Titmus, though she was the only one of the five who had proven she was firing on all cylinders this year coming in, received more than 50 percent of the votes as the most impressive non-Worlds swimmer in Birmingham.
Regardless of where they were at coming in, it is clear that Titmus performed the best of the bunch by a wide margin, as she swept the women’s 200 free (1:53.89), 400 free (3:58.06) and 800 free (8:13.59), setting a new Commonwealth Record in the 800 and winning a highly-anticipated matchup with Summer McIntosh in the 400.
Titmus also anchored the Australian women’s 800 free relay home with a blistering 1:52.82 200 free split, the fastest in history, as the team set a new world record in 7:39.29.
McKeon had a very successful meet as well, picking up nearly 24 percent of the votes.
Although she wasn’t quite the same dominant force she was at the Olympics last summer, the 28-year-old won an incredible eight medals, including six gold, two of which were individual in the 50 free and 50 fly.
Coming off of COVID, more than 16 percent of readers gave their vote to Scott, who tackled a daunting individual schedule while also carrying a big load for Scotland on the relays.
Scott emerged with wins in the men’s 200 free (1:45.02) and 200 IM (1:56.88), added individual bronzes in the 100 free and 400 IM, and was also just 12 one-hundredths shy of a medal in the 200 fly. In the men’s 800 free relay, he also anchored Scotland home in 1:44.48 to run down Wales and win bronze, and added a 51.7 fly leg for the Scots as they took third in the men’s 400 medley relay.
Peaty, though his performances were well below expectations, still earned over five percent of votes. This was likely because, after the huge disappointment in the 100 breast where he missed a medal, Peaty managed to battle back and win gold in the 50 breast, his first career title in the event.
Schoenmaker was well off her Olympic form, but still picked up a handful of votes after winning the 200 breast and taking second in the 100 breast.
Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks: Was Regan Smith’s decision to go pro and head to Arizona the right move for her career?
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ABOUT A3 PERFORMANCE
The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner.
I was expecting it to be higher than 50% tbh. WR, fastest split ever, three individual gold. Seems pretty clear cut. I can see the argument for Emma or Duncan but no idea what people were thinking voting Peaty or Schoenmaker.
MOC stole her thunder (and so did McKeon-Simpson) which was a risk of swimming in essentially an inter-squad meet, and times by Arnie in her individual events were disappointing given build-up comments she made. The three individual gold mean little, given how many medals were distributed to other AUS swimmers like MOC amd McKeon, and the limited nature of the meet.
No MOC, very interesting. Beat Mckeon in the 100 free & nearly beat Titmus in the 200 free, only 18 years old.
She also swam at worlds. Kind of disqualifies her from being an option.