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Triple medal glory for Liam

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BBC Sport

Exeter swimming sensation Liam Tancock brings home a gold and two silver medals from the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne after an exhilerating set of results in both individual and team events.

Liam Tancock powered his way to three Commonwealth medals after a series of superb individual and team performances in the pool.

His finest moment came when he led all the way in the men's 100 metres backstroke final in a new Commonwealth Games record time of 54.53 seconds.

He edged out Australia's Matt Welsh, who had set the previous record at the Manchester Games four years ago. He finished second in 54.82.

The Devon swimmer was delighted at adding a gold medal to the silver he won in the 50m backstroke.

He told the BBC: "This is what I've been training for and a gold medal, a games record - I can't ask for much more than that.

"I've been training every day for years so I'm really pleased. The last couple of years I've been practising the 100m, it's been going well and I'm Commonwealth champion now so I'm really pleased."

Tancock had to settle for silver in the 50 metres backstroke after being pipped to the gold medal by South West colleague Matthew Clay.

He had gone into the final in Melbourne as the favourite after breaking the Games record in the heats, but Clay came good when it mattered in a time of 25.04 seconds.

Tancock took silver in 25.10secs with South African Johannes Zandberg claiming bronze.

He added another silver to his medal collection as part of the England team in the 4x100 medley relay.