Commonwealth Games: James Wilby takes silver ahead of Ross Murdoch
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James Wilby (left) was overtaken by Zac Stubblety-Cook in the final 50 metres of the men's 200m breaststroke final
England's James Wilby won the hosts' first swimming medal of the 2022 Commonwealth Games as he took silver in the 200m breaststroke ahead of Scottish bronze medallist Ross Murdoch.
The hosts' mixed 4x100m freestyle relay team took another silver in the final event of the night, while Barry McClements claimed Northern Ireland's first Commonwealth swimming medal with bronze in the S9 100m backstroke.
Scotland's Toni Shaw and Katie Shanahan also contributed to a successful night for their nation at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre with a bronze medal each.
Despite the Birmingham crowd's ear-piercing cheers, it was Australia who dominated the night as they won at least one medal in each event and 11 in total.
Australian Zac Stubblety-Cook finished ahead of Wilby to take one of his country's five golds.
Standing alongside Murdoch, Wilby told BBC Sport: "I would have loved to win but it was just such an incredible race. We've both had a bit of a challenging one this year, so to come away with a medal means a lot to us both, so really happy with that."
Lewis Burras, Tom Dean, Anna Hopkin and Freya Anderson were England's mixed 4x100m freestyle relay silver medallists, finishing 1.27 seconds behind Australia in three minutes 22.45 seconds.
Northern Ireland and Scotland shine early on
'What a swim!' - Ross Murdoch wins bronze for Scotland
Wilby and the relay team eventually rewarded the enthusiastic cheers that came from the home crowd all night, but it was Northern Ireland and Scotland who shone early on.
Scottish 18-year-old Shanahan claimed a sensational bronze as she finished the 200m individual medley in four minutes 39.37 seconds.
Having qualified slowest for the final, Shanahan clasped her hands over her mouth in disbelief as she saw what she had done.
Canada's 15-year-old world champion Summer McIntosh took a dominant gold in a Commonwealth Games record of 4:29.01, 7.77 seconds ahead of Australian silver medallist Kiah Melverton.
In the men's 400m freestyle, Daniel Wiffen missed out on a first Northern Irish medal by 0.13 seconds but bettered the Irish record he set in the heats with a time of three minutes 46.62 seconds.
McClements soon made amends as the 20-year-old went out hard in a gutsy swim and held off Australia's Harrison Vig to claim his slice of history.
Then Scotland stepped back into the spotlight as Shaw took bronze in the women's S9 100m freestyle, before Murdoch celebrated his bronze by climbing on the lane rope and roaring at the crowd.
The extent of the 28-year-old's celebrations are a reflection of his journey to the Games. Murdoch retired in December without telling anyone, but decided to return to the pool, seeking one more medal.
"I can't describe what that means to me," he told BBC Sport after the race.
"To get on the podium tonight alongside my long-time buddy [Wilby]... it was a hard-fought race and it's been a hard season."
Murdoch held off Australia's Matthew Wilson to take bronze in two minutes 10.41 seconds, while Wilby's 2:08.59 was just short of Stubblety-Cook's 2:08.07.
England find late success
England soon began to fire at the shiny Sandwell - the only new venue built for the Games.
The team's 2014 Commonwealth champion Ben Proud won his 50m butterfly semi-final comfortably to qualify fastest for the final, with his 23.06 seconds narrowly missing the Games record of 22.93.
Compatriot Jacob Peters was second and Wales' Lewis Fraser third, while England's Adam Barrett also made it into Saturday's final.
England's Imogen Clark won her 50m breaststroke semi-final, with Scotland's Kara Hanlon also going through to Saturday's final after finishing third.
English defending champion Sarah Vasey missed out as she was fifth, while South Africa's Lara van Niekerk set a new Commonwealth Games record of 29.80 seconds in the second semi-final.
Home hope Luke Greenbank - a bronze medallist in Tokyo - and Brodie Williams secured their places in the men's 100m backstroke final.
England's Holly Hibbott and Wales' Harriet Jones reached the 100m butterfly semi-final, where Canada's Olympic champion Maggie Macneil will battle for gold against Australia's Emma McKeon.
All yellow on the medal podium
Australia won five gold medals in the swimming pool to dominate day one of the Games
Australia made their intentions clear early as they claimed all three medals in the opening race of the night.
Elijah Winnington took 400m freestyle gold, with Sam Short claiming silver and 2018 champion Mack Horton holding off Northern Ireland's Wiffen for bronze.
Less than half an hour later, Australia filled the podium again as Ariarne Titmus set a Games record of one minute 53.89 seconds in the 200m freestyle, although Federica Pellegrini's world record of 1:52.98 continues to elude the Australian.
Her compatriot Mollie O'Callaghan took silver and Madison Wilson bronze.
Timothy Hodge won S9 men's 100m backstroke gold and the team secured another gold before the night was over in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay.
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