Commonwealth Games – Ones to watch, day 6
Men’s 50 Free
2014 Winning time - 21.92, Ben Proud (England)
World record - 20.91, Cesar Cielo (Brazil)
With proud taking the victory 4 years ago he will be in the search and will be hungry to add the 2018 gold to his CV. Having won in a 21.92 during the 2014 games this time wasn’t a personal best from Proud, he was however the only swimmer in the final to break the 22 second barrier with Australia’s Cameron McEvoy and James Magnussen finishing in 22.00 and 22.10 respectively.
Since 2014 Proud has brought his personal best right down. After finishing in a bitter sweet 4th place finish at the Rio Olympics in a fantastic 21.54 Proud bounced onto a massive 2017. At the World Championship Trials, Proud shook the world with a 21.32, a time that was 0.08 faster than the time that claimed Anthony Ervin the Olympic Crown the year before. Proud then went onto claiming the 50 butterfly World Championships title and a bronze medal in the 50 freestyle with a time only 0.11 slower than his stunning trials swim.
With proud being in such superb form could he be looking to rewrite the history books under the sun at the Gold Coast? With Caeleb Dressel’s Budapest World Championship winning time of 21.15 standing at the fastest ever time in a textile suit could Proud take this title along with the Commonwealth title? This would be a huge jump forwards for the English man but as we’ve seen he is more than capable of making big steps forward.
Our very own Tiide Athlete Tom Fannon will also be firing in this event. Having trained for years as Proud’s training partner at Plymouth Fannon has learnt from the best. With a PB of 22.10 the 19-year-old would have claimed a joint bronze 4 years ago in Glasgow, he is in with a great shout of grabbing himself a medal. Show him some support and give him a good luck message on his Instagram page here!
Proud absolutely smashed a 21.30 in the semi-finals earlier today, could he get even closer to the magic 20 second mark? Tom Fannon has also made the final after a superb swim going into the final in 4th position! Tom is in with a real chance of a medal tomorrow and the whole team at Tiide are excited to see him swim!
This will mark the last day of the swimming at the Gold Coast and will mean the end of our special deal at midnight tomorrow! Buy one Tiide tee and get a free cap of choice or buy two or more and get a free bottle too! Whilst stocks last, not to be used in conjunction with any other offer. Shop here now.