Calm Teong set to peak

Just a month after making the men's 50m butterfly final at the Fina World Championships, Teong Tzen Wei continued his remarkable form on Friday night in Birmingham as he qualified for the final of the same event at the Commonwealth Games.

He was the second-fastest swimmer in the semi-final at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre, his time of 23.24 seconds sandwiched between England's Benjamin Proud (23.06) and Trinidad and Tobago's Dylan Carter (23.41).

Proud, 27, won this event in 2014 in Glasgow in a Games-record 22.93. Teong's personal best is 23.03, set at last month's world meet.

Last night's final took place after press time but for the Singaporean - seeking to become just the third swimmer after Joseph Schooling and para athlete Toh Wei Soong to finish on the podium at the quadrennial Games - his priority was to stay calm.

Teong, 24, said after his semi-final: "This is my first Commonwealth Games final so I'm pumped but it's time to relax, come back down so that I can peak again. There's no need to get overexcited so just taking it step by step, this is just according to the process.

"Sometimes when I visualise or think too much, I can get pumped up even when I'm not swimming so there's no need for me to spike my adrenaline. I don't need to put so much pressure on myself."

Friday night was also memorable for the Quah siblings Ting Wen, Zheng Wen and Jing Wen. The trio and Jonathan Tan clocked 3min 31.90sec to finish sixth in the mixed 4x100m freestyle relay. Australia won gold in a Games record of 3:21.18 followed by England (3:22.45) and Canada (3:24.86).

While they have competed at multiple international meets together, the Quahs have never all been on the same relay team.

"It's a special thing because you're racing with the people you train with, so it makes it all the more fun, especially when everyone is trying to do their best," said Jing Wen, the youngest at 21.

"You're also talking about people I've lived and grown up with so that makes it extra, extra special."

Another Singaporean, Maximillian Ang, swam 2:13.25 and was sixth in the men's 200m breaststroke. Australian Olympic champion Zac Stubblety-Cook won in 2:08.07 ahead of England's James Wilby (2:08.59) and Ross Murdoch (2:10.41) of Scotland.

He will also feature in today's 100m breaststroke semi-finals after clocking 1:01.54 in the heats.

While Ang, 21, felt he could have swum faster in the 200m final, he was pleased to finish in the top eight. He said: "I've been having a lot of back-to-back competitions like the SEA Games, a few weeks of training, then world championships and now Commonwealth Games; I'm exhausted. But, at the same time, I always do my best.

"Hopefully I can carry this momentum to the next few days to the 50m and 100m breaststroke."

Teammate Amanda Lim made the women's 50m free semi-finals after clocking 25.68sec in the heats yesterday. Singapore's Tan, Zheng Wen, Mikkel Lee and Darren Chua also qualified for the men's 4x100m free relay final (3:20.74).

Swimming powerhouses Australia dominated the opening round of the competition, winning five of the seven golds on offer, starting with Elijah Winnington in the first final, the men's 400m free. He touched the wall in 3:43.06, ahead of compatriots Sam Short (3:45.07) and Mack Horton (3:46.49).

Canadian teen sensation Summer McIntosh, 15, set a Games record of 4:29.01 in the women's 400m individual medley, rewriting Hannah Miley's mark of 4:31.76 from the 2014 edition. Australia's Kiah Melverton (4:36.78) and Scotland's Katie Shanahan (4:39.37) were second and third respectively.