2023 COMMONWEALTH YOUTH GAMES
- Sunday, August 6th – Wednesday, August 9th (swimming)
- National Aquatic Center, Couva, Trinidad & Tobago
- LCM (50m)
- Day 1 Recap/Day 2 Recap
- Results
Day three of the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games saw two swimmers complete sweeps of their respective disciplines at the National Aquatic Center in Couva.
Scotland’s Matthew Ward already claimed the 50m back and 100m back victories earlier in the competition and the 18-year-old finished off with a win in the 200m back.
Stopping the clock in a mark of 1:59.21, 18-year-old Ward beat the field handily, registering the sole outing under 2:00.
Runner-up status went to England’s Adam Graham who touched in 2:02.05 while Northern Ireland’s Brandon Biss rounded out the podium in a time of 2:03.84.
For Ward, the Scot got under the 2:00 barrier for the first time in his career with his gold medal-worthy 1:59.21 clearing his previous personal best of 2:00.00 logged at April’s British Swimming Championships.
Matthew Ward‘s Backstroke Sweep:
- 50m back – 25.51 Games Record
- 100m back – 54.57
- 200m back – 1:59.21
This trifecta of gold continues Wards’ momentum from this year’s European Junior Championships where he earned bronze in both the 50m and 100m backstroke events.
England’s Oscar Bilbao completed a sweep of his own in the breaststroke, taking the 100m distance on night three in Couva.
The Repton swimmer earned gold in a mark of 1:03.12, just getting the edge over Filip Nowacki of Jersey. Nowacki settled for silver only .04 back in 1:03.16 while South Africa’s Kian Keylock bagged bronze in 1:03.46.
17-year-old Bilbao owns a lifetime best of 1:02.46 in the 1breast, a time he earned at this year’s British Swimming Championships.
Oscar Bilbao‘s Breaststroke Sweep:
- 50m breast – 28.60
- 100m breast – 1:03.12
- 200m breast – 2:15.57
16-year-old Inez Miller of Australia continued her impressive streak of strong freestyle swims, tonight taking on the 400m free.
The Aussie posted a time of 4:14.97 to beat the field by nearly 4 seconds en route to producing the fastest time of her young career. Entering this competition, Miller’s career-quickest rested at the 4:16.76 notched at the 2022 Australian Age Championships.
Teammate Hannah Erin turned in a time of 4:18.72 as the runner-up in the race while Barbados’ Heidi Stoute placed third in 4:25.61.
As for Miller, this 4free victory adds to her 100m free silver and 200m free gold medals already collected at this meet.
Zarek Wilson grabbed a gold in the 100m fly for the host nation, producing a new Games Record in the process.
18-year-old Wilson nabbed the top spot in a time of 53.70, knocking .27 off of the previous meet mark of 53.96 Wales’ Lewis Frasier put on the books in 2017.
Runner-up Nick Finch of England also dipped under the Games Record mark, posting 53.95 for silver. South African Jarden Eaton wrapped up the medals in 54.41.
- Sienna Robinson claimed gold in the girls’ 100m breast, hitting 1:10.29 to get to the wall first. Immediately behind was Welsh athlete Theodora Taylor who touched just .10 behind in 1:10.39 while Northern Ireland’s Ellie McCartney also landed on the podium in 1:10.46 for bronze. Robinson earlier took 200m breast silver behind McCartney while winning the 50m breast.
- Tyler Melbourne-Smith of Wales clocked a time of 3:54.19 to take the boys’ 400m freestyle. That narrowly defeated Reece Grady of England who registered 3:54.74 for silver. England’s Harry Wynne-Jones was the bronze medalist in 3:56.29. This represents Melbourne-Smith’s 2nd gold as the Welshman already won the 1500m freestyle event.
- Australia went 1-2 in the girls’ 100m butterfly, led by Mikayla Bird and her winning effort of 1:00.15. Countrymate Lillie McPherson was next in 1:00.80 while Kiwi swimmer Amelia Bray rounded out the podium in 1:01.32.
- Holly McGill of Scotland handily defeated the girls’ 200m backstroke field, getting to the wall over 4 seconds ahead of the competition. McGill notched a time of 2:12.06 to pair the gold with her 100m backstroke win from earlier in the meet.
- England topped the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay podium, posting a winning result of 3:33.44.
Through day three of the 2023 Commonwealth Youth Games, the top three countries remain atop the overall swimming medal table, led by England with 7 golds.
Are there many teams there?
Sorry. Just looked for myself on the results. Doh!
Looks like no Canadians in swimming, but decent fields in general, Australian team not really there in some events.
Most of the junior Australians are going to junior worlds.