Commonwealth Games: Swimmer Laura Kinley reaches second semi-final

Laura Kinley will take part in the semi-finals shortly after 21:00 BST

Isle of Man swimmer Laura Kinley has made it through to the semi-finals of the women's 100m breaststroke at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

The 26-year-old completed her heat in fifth with a time of 1 minute and 10.66 seconds, just off her own Manx Record of 1:09.71.

It is the second time Kinley had qualified for a semi-final at these games, having made it to the women's 50m breaststroke semis on Friday.

Kinley said she was "really pleased".

The performance placed her 13th overall in the heats, 4.26 seconds behind the leader, South Africa's Lara van Niekerk.

Speaking to Manx Radio she said, after two days off from competing, the swim was "kind of getting back in, blowing off the cobwebs again".

"Now it's just kind of going back, having a rest, getting refuelled, and then coming back and hopefully improving on this morning's time later."

"This morning was slightly over my PB but, as I say, after a couple of days off it's kind of expected, so hopefully [I can] kind of build on that later and kind of be hitting towards the higher end of the competition as well."

The semi-finals are set to take place shortly after 21:00 BST.

Manx swimmers will also be in action in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay, which goes straight to the final without any heats.

'Learning curve'

Reflecting on the overall performance of the Manx swimming team at the games so far, Kinley said: "It has been a great team atmosphere at the accommodation and even at the pool as well.

"I mean we're all so proud of how everyone's swimming as well, it's just great to be part of the Isle of Man swim team and everybody gets behind each other, so it's just been really good."

Kiera Prentice and Peter Allen were also competing in the pool for the island during the morning session.

Prentice set a time of 2 minutes and 38.01 seconds in her heat in the 200m backstroke, while Allen completed his heat in the 100m butterfly in a time of 56.80 seconds, finishing 13th and 27th respectively.

Speaking to Manx Radio, Allen said competing at a higher level had been a "learning curve".

"I think being at something so big, there's more pressure of your friends and family watching that wouldn't normally watch one of your competitions just during the season.

"I think something to learn is kind of maintain the pressure, don't crack under it, and realise that everyone's supporting [and] not waiting for you to slip up.

"So I think that's a big learning curve that major games kind of give you."

Tara Donnelly improved on the qualifying score in the artist gymnastic all-around final

Meanwhile, on Sunday, gymnast Tara Donnelly improved on her qualifying score in the woman's all-around final, finishing 13th overall.

She posted a score of 47.05, up from 43.7 the day before, upping her performance in all four disciplines - the uneven bars, beam, floor and vault.

It gave the 23-year-old the Isle of Man's best-ever finish in an all-around final.

She told Manx Radio afterwards: "I'm feeling much better today, I think my goal today was to go out and show everybody that all my hard work has kind of paid off, so I'm really excited and pleased to have done that.

"I think I just took the pressure off myself. I just went out there and enjoyed myself, and I know what I'm capable of."