Thorpe supreme on opening night
Derek Parr
Ian Thorpe polished off the first two gold medals in a quest for an unprecedented seven Commonwealth Games titles and demolished one of his own world records in a majestic evening of swimming on Tuesday.
On the opening day of races at the pool, England's Zoe Baker destroyed the women's 50 metres breaststroke mark set in 1999 by former Olympic champion Penny Heyns of South Africa.
But Thorpe took centre stage, smashing his own 400 freestyle mark before anchoring Australia to victory in the 4x100 metres freestyle relay final.
Thorpe, clad in his familiar black full bodysuit, looked invincible, banishing doubts about his ability to withstand Olympic champion Grant Hackett, who had broken his own short-course world record at the distance less than two weeks before.
He left his team mate for dead as he swept home in three minutes 40.08 seconds -- some five metres ahead of Hackett -- to beat the mark of 3:40.17 he set in Fukuoka, Japan, in July last year on his way to an unprecedented six world titles.
"The 400 was great and I enjoyed myself in that, then had a lot of fun with the guys in the relay, so it was a really great start for Australia," Thorpe said.
"I was out there and I was giving it my best shot, as I'm going to do in all my races here, and I'm not going to hold back in any one to allow me to swim a better race in the next one."
RELAY GOLD
He then joined forces with Hackett and brought the relay home in 3:16.42, well outside the world record 3:13.67 the Australians posted in winning the 2000 Olympic title in Sydney. South Africa were second in 3:18.86 and Canada third in 3:19.39.
In the 400, Thorpe was almost a full second inside his world record split 100 metres from home but, even though he did not match the blistering finish he produced in Fukuoka, he still claimed his 13th individual long-course world record.
"I like to alter what I'm trying to do. I was under world record pace most of the race, so I was really happy with that swim," he said.
Thorpe, who is still only 19, won four gold medals at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur and would surpass fellow Australian swimmer Susie O'Neill's Commonwealth record aggregate of 10 if he added a further seven in Manchester.
Baker swooped through her 50 breaststroke semifinal in 30.57 seconds to shatter the 30.83 mark set by Heyns in August 1999.
"I'm really pleased with that. That was my aim. I wanted to go out and break a world record in the semi so I can just concentrate on the final," Baker said.
Olympic bronze medallist Justin Norris made it three titles for Australia out of five on the day by defeating England's Steve Parry and James Hickman, the defending champion, in the men's 200 metres butterfly.
But England's Karen Pickering and Karen Legg showed the Australians, who won 23 titles out of 32 at the 1998 Commonwealth Games, were far from unbeatable with a stirring one-two in the opening women's 200 metres freestyle.
SURPRISE WINNER
Eighteen-year-old Kirsty Coventry, little known on the international scene, was the surprise winner of the night, bringing Zimbabwe their first Games swimming title in the women's 200 metres individual medley.
"I am amazed. It hasn't really sunk in yet and it doesn't seem very real," Coventry said.
Australian Jennifer Reilly, initially disqualified after finishing second in the race, was later reinstated. She had been disqualified for an incorrect turn from the opening butterfly length into the backstroke.
But organisers said in a statement: "Following an approach by Australian team officials, the referee was alerted to a potential error and, having investigated the matter thoroughly, recognised an error had been made."
