Commonwealth Games: Isle of Man swimmers through to men's relay final

Harry Robinson, Joel Watterson, Alex Bregazzi and Peter Allen will compete in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay final

The Isle of Man swimming team smashed the Manx record to secure a place in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay final at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Joel Watterson, Alex Bregazzi, Harry Robinson and Peter Allen came seventh overall in the heats with a time of three minutes 27.3 seconds, 11.66 seconds behind the leaders Australia.

It was a performance that shaved almost 10 seconds off the Manx record in the event, which was set in 2014.

Watterson said it felt "great" to have set a new record time.

Speaking to Manx Radio, the 23-year-old said: "It's been standing there for a few years now so, yes, to have broken that again, everyone swam great I think."

"It was really fantastic, it's the first time all four of us have done a relay together, so we knew that the island record was probably going to go," team-mate Peter Allen said.

Looking ahead to the final later on Saturday, the 20-year-old said: "This is what we came here for so it's great to make it."

The heat also saw Watterson break his own Manx record for 100m freestyle during his leg of the relay, with a time of 50.56 seconds.

The team will be taking on Fiji, South Africa, England, Singapore, Canada, Wales and Australia, who qualified for the final with a time of 3:15.64.

And those were not the only records to be broken in the pool on Saturday, with Emma Hodgson setting a new fastest time of 1:04.82 in the women's 100m backstroke.

The 19-year-old beat the previous Manx record, which was set in 2015, by 0.27 seconds.

Sarah Webster finished 14th in women's marathon

In the marathon, Sarah Webster and Ollie Lockley both finished 14th in the woman's and men's events respectively, with the pair putting in season-best times.

Webster, who finished in two hours, 51 minutes and 53 seconds, 24 minutes and 22 seconds behind the winner, Australia's Jessica Stenson.

The 43-year-old told Manx Radio it was "a great relief to have finished", and although she was disappointed with the time she said "the crowd were just absolutely amazing".

"But the idea was to get round, I overtook one person with about two miles to go, so wasn't last," she said.

"The support for everybody, even us at the back was just brilliant, Isle of Man people but also locals as well, they were just awesome.

"I'm disappointed with the time, but just even finishing in the Commonwealth Games, for the Isle of Man, is just very, very special."

Ollie Lockley set a season-best time in the men's marathon

Lockley, who struggled with sickness and stomach cramps during the race, said it was "amazing just to finish".

"I really struggled kind of around half way with just being sick, I just couldn't keep anything down. I don't know why, I've done many training runs a lot quicker," the 28-year-old told Manx Radio.

"At that point there was no way I was not finishing, so I was just trying to just take each mile as it came and making sure that I eventually got to the finish line.

"There was no way I wasn't finishing, especially wearing the Manx singlet. So yes, I'm just pleased I finished and I hope I did the Isle of Man proud today."

Tara Donnelly scored 43.7 in the artistic gymnastics

Meanwhile, Tara Donnelly faces an anxious wait to find out if she will qualify for the all-around final in the artistic gymnastics.

The 24-year-old scored 43.7 in the first women's team final and individual qualification subdivision session.

She posted individual scores of 10.95 on the vault, 11.05 on the uneven bars, 10.1 on the balance beam, and 11.6 for the floor routine, scoring a personal best on the bars.

Reflecting on her performance, she told Manx Radio that although it had been a "really exciting experience", she had "put that little bit too much pressure on myself".

"The preparations have been going really well and I just found that today it just didn't kind of pay off, which I'm really disappointed in," she said.

"I also got a personal best on bars, which is really good for me, especially at such a major event. So I'm really, really pleased with that.

"Floor went quite well, but obviously I had quite a big deduction on my first tumble, which unfortunately kept me down on the score, but I really enjoyed that.

"And we've still got a chance maybe at the all-round final so we'll just keep our fingers crossed and see how it goes."