Swimmers dominant as Australia get off to golden start at Commonwealth Games

Superb in the swimming pool and tremendous on the track, Australia is in a dominant position on the medal table after a superb opening day at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. From the return of swimming star Ariarne Titmus to another milestone moment for champion wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy, it was a largely successful day for the green and gold.

Australia head the gold medal tally after winning eight of the 16 awarded on Friday, all of those claimed in either the swimming pool or the velodrome in London, and sit five ahead of New Zealand. Host nation England won the medal tally when the Commonwealth Games were last held in the United Kingdom in Glasgow in 2014, but already trail Australia by six gold medals.

Earlier, Elijah Winnington started the party when leading home another Australian hat-trick in the 400m freestyle, with Sam Short and Mack Horton also finishing on the podium. Tim Hodge was an easy victor in the 100m backstroke S9, while Emma McKeon anchored Australia to a success in the mixed 100m freestyle relay to close out the night.

The sprint team of Leigh Hoffman, Matthew Glaetzer and Matthew Richardson made it a third track gold medal when setting another Games record.