Former Burnley Bobcat wins gold on the Gold Coast

Former Burnley Bobcats swimmer Tom Hamer broke his own world record to land the S14 200m Freestyle title on the opening night of the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Former Burnley Bobcat Tom Hamer proudly displays his gold medal after a record-breaking swim. Credit: Swim England.Former Burnley Bobcat Tom Hamer proudly displays his gold medal after a record-breaking swim. Credit: Swim England.
Former Burnley Bobcat Tom Hamer proudly displays his gold medal after a record-breaking swim. Credit: Swim England.

That success swelled England's tally to six to ensure that they ended day one at the top of the medal table ahead of Australia, who finished with five.

The Paralympic silver medallist delivered in style, heading the race in the second 50m on the way to a time of 1:55.88.

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Hamer’s time saw him become the first S14 swimmer to break 1:56 for 200m Freestyle, lowering his world record of 1:56.18 from last year.

“There was no point really going for it in the heats,” said Hamer, who came through the heats fourth fastest in 2:01.08.

“I tried to save as much as I can and recover the best way possible during the day today and that’s really paid off in the race.

“I took it steady in the first length to see how everyone was reacting first and then the middle 100m I worked on that and tried to bring it home on the last length.

“It’s pretty incredible to be the first world record of the meet. I’m super pleased. I got a silver in 2014 and it’s amazing to see how much I’ve progressed in four years.”