Gonzalez clocked an impressive time of 1:01:38 in front of a capacity crowd at the Optus Aquatic Centre in Queensland to the delight of Gibraltarian fans.

Gonzalez edged Kenya’s Steven Maina by 0.27 seconds to secure seventh place in Heat 3 against world class competitors from Australia and England who dominated podium positions.

“The race felt extremely controlled for me,” he told reporters directly after the race. “I’m happy with the time. Now my aim is to smash the 50m record.”

Two other local swimmers, Matt Savitz and Jim Sanderson, were also in action yesterday in the Men’s 50m Butterfly finishing alongside each other in seventh and eighth place respectively. Savitz achieved a time of 26:85 while Sanderson was close behind with a time of 26:95.

TRIATHLON TRIO

Gibraltar’s Iron Men battled through torrid conditions in the triathlon as strong winds and torrential rain lashed Gold Coast Harbour prior to the event yesterday.

Andrew Gordon led the chasing pack of Gibraltarians to finish 28th out of 36 top competitors with a solid time just over the hour mark of 1:00:59.

Chris Walker, a former World Champion in his age group, followed in 29th position with 1:02:00 and debutant Robert Matto was 31st with 1:05:47.

“Despite torrential rain, strong winds and even stronger currents to deal with we managed to finish with many of the professional stars of the World Triathlon Series still within sights on the last lap of the run,” said five-time Commonwealth Games athlete Chris Walker. “Andrew and I managed to avoid getting lapped on the course for the first time ever and Matto put in the performance of his life. We were delighted to receive amazing support out on the course and back home in Gibraltar.”

INJURY AGONY

In the Men’s Squash Singles Round of 64 local player Christian Navas was struck by injury midway through his first set against Zambia’s Kelvin Ndhlovu and struggled to recover.

He eventually lost by three straight sets with a score of 11-4, 11-0 and 11-3 but will be working towards full fitness ahead of the plate competition.

Swimming will take centre stage today at the Optus Aquatic Centre with Aidan Carroll making his Games debut in the 200m Men’s Freestyle. Gibraltar’s only female swimmer at the Gold Coast, Christina Linares, will fly the red and white flag in the Women’s 50m Freestyle and the male quartet go into the Heats of the 4x100m Freestyle Relay.

06-04-18 PANORAMAdailyGIBRALTAR