CWG 2014: Cameron McEvoy responds to James Magnussen in 50m freestyle

Glasgow: Australia`s Cameron McEvoy took first blood in the men`s 50m freestyle heats at the Commonwealth Games on Monday ahead of Aussie rival James Magnussen.

McEvoy was beaten to gold in the 100m freestyle on Sunday night, but qualified for Monday evening`s semi-finals fastest in a time of 22:04sec. "It felt surprisingly good after last night," said McEvoy. "Mentally it is a bit difficult coming in after last night, but it is only one lap." McEvoy already has four medals from the meet in Glasgow as he also took silver in the 200m freestyle and was part of the Aussie team that struck gold in the 4x100m and 4x200m freestyle relays. However, the 20-year-old played down expectations of another medal in Tuesday night`s 50m final. "It is one of the events that I like to do. I wasn`t expecting to qualify for it at trials so I can just sit back and enjoy it all. "I think in the field I am ranked seventh, so I am happy with that because it would get me into the final. "It is my last individual event so I am just looking forward to enjoying it." Magnussen qualified down in fourth behind teammate Matt Abood and England`s Ben Proud, but the 100m freestyle world champion put that down to his exertions in winning gold on Sunday. "I`m not getting off the blocks super well at the moment, but I`ve got a day and a half to figure out how to get off quicker. "I felt a bit sore this morning. I probably got more physio than warm-up done, but you don`t need too much warm-up for the first 50m so it was ok." Attention turns to the women`s 100m freestyle on Monday night as world champion Cate Campbell of Australia, her sister Bronte, and England`s Fran Halsall look set to battle it out for the medals. The Campbells went fastest in Sunday`s semi-finals, but Halsall has already claimed two golds in Glasgow in the 50m freestyle and butterfly. The triumvirate of England`s Adam Peaty, South African Cameron van der Burgh and local Scottish favourite Ross Murdoch are expected to fight it out for the medals in the men`s 50m breaststroke. Meanwhile, another South African Olympic champion Chad le Clos will be looking for his fifth medal of the meet in the men`s 100m butterfly final. Australia`s Mitch Larkin will look to add to his two silvers in the men`s 50m and 100m backstroke events after qualifying fastest for the 200m final on Monday morning. Maddie Davies is expected to add to Australia`s gold medal haul as she was quickest in the heats for the women`s 200 butterfly, whilst Alia Atkinson could win Jamaica`s first ever Commonwealth swimming gold in the women`s 100m breaststroke. Jazz Carlin will also be hoping to claim Wales` first gold in the pool when she goes in the women`s 800m freestyle final. Another Welsh woman Georgia Davies set the only Commonwealth Games record of the morning in qualifying fastest for the women`s 50m backstroke semi-finals in a time of 27:90sec. Stephen Milne raised hopes of another medal for hosts Scotland as he qualified second fastest, just one tenth of a second behind Olympic and world silver medallist Ryan Cochrane of Canada in the men`s 1500m freestyle. And there should be a guaranteed gold for England in the men`s para-sport 200m individual medley as Oliver Hynd finished five seconds clear of the field in qualifying.