Commonwealth Games: Conor Ferguson storms into 100m backstroke final

Northern Ireland swimmer Conor Ferguson stormed into Friday's 100m backstroke final at the Commonwealth Games as he qualified fourth fastest.

Ferguson, 18, clocked 54.48 seconds in his semi-final which was over a second faster than his morning heat time.

The Northern Irishman was third behind Australian duo Mitch Larkin (53.15) and Bradley Woodward (54.22).

Cookstown clubman Calum Bain was 11th in the 50m butterfly after finishing fifth in his semi-final.

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Bain clocked 25.45 in his morning heat to qualify 11th for the semi-finals and went 0.02 seconds faster in the evening as he remained in 11th spot.

The county Tyrone man's time was 0.26 seconds slower than the eighth and last qualifier for the final, Australian David Morgan.

His team-mate David Thompson narrowly missed out on the semi-finals despite winning his heat in 24.77 seconds with Curtis Coulter 29th overall after a 25.53 clocking.

European Junior medallist Ferguson's 100m backstroke final will take place at 12:36 BST on Friday.