So, the opening ceremony is behind us and, in just a few hours, the first events of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games will start (helpfully for a British person who lives in the US, at around 3 in the morning!). One of the first sports to start with a bang will be Swimming, which is one of the central sports of the entire games, along with Athletics. It is also one of the sports that features para-events integrated alongside able bodied events.
Like Athletics, swimming has recently held World Championships, although there was a bigger gap between those championships and these games when compared to Athletics. The presence of the two competitions meant that different countries have approached the summer very differently. Australia and South Africa prioritised these Commonwealth Games – with the likes of Ariane Titmus and Emma McKeon skipping the worlds champs entirely – whilst Canada seems to have done the opposite, and with the Home Nations somewhere in the middle.
On the Women’s side, expect Australia to dominate proceedings. In fact, it would not be beyond the realms of possibility for them to win gold in every event, such is the strength of Australian female swimming. However, although possible, the presence of the likes of Summer McIntosh, Maggie McNeil and Kylie Masse (of Canada) and Tatjana Schoenmaker and Lara van Niekerk (of South Africa) make such a sweep less likely.
A sweep IS likely, however, in the Women’s relays. Had Canada been at full strength they could have run Australia close, but several of their top swimmers have chosen to pass on this meet.
The men’s events, however, look likely to be much more challenging for the Green and Gold. Whilst they will undoubtedly still win a substantial haul of medals (a team containing the likes of Kyle Chalmers, Elijah Winnington and Zac Stubblety-Cook would hardly expect otherwise), the challenge from other countries will be equally strong, with the likes of Tom Dean (England), Duncan Scott (Scotland), Pieter Coetze (South Africa) and Dan Jervis (Wales) all harbouring realistic chances of standing a-top the podium. Not to mention the phenomenal Adam Peaty who has been out for much of this year with a foot injury. If he is back to anything like top form he should dominate the shorter breaststroke events.
The relays are also more open on the men’s side, with Australia perhaps being narrow favourite in all three. But it would not be a great surprise if England were to win any of them either, with Canada, South Africa, Scotland and Wales lurking.
Finally, we have the mixed relays – both the mixed freestyle and mixed medley. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Australia are overwhelming favourites for the freestyle. The medley, however, could be decided by the performance of Lauren Cox, who seems likely to be the replacement for Kathleen Dawson (who is not only injured, but also Scottish!) in a team that otherwise is the reigning Olympic champions.
Ian's World Of Sports 