England burst Scottish bubble in pool

Gold Coast. England gave the auld enemy Scotland a bloody nose on day one of the Commonwealth Games swimming competition Thursday when James Wilby and Aimee Willmott pulled off upset wins.

England gave the auld enemy Scotland a bloody nose on day one of the Commonwealth Games swimming competition Thursday when James Wilby and Aimee Willmott pulled off upset wins.

Earlier, perennial bridesmaid Willmott brilliantly denied Hannah Miley a hat-trick of Commonwealth titles in the women’s 400 metres individual medley in the evening’s first final in Gold Coast.

Adding insult to injury, Wilby glared at Murdoch after storming through to win in two minutes, 8.05 seconds -- almost half-a-second ahead of his rival.

“I didn’t mean to be giving him the death stare,” Wilby told AFP.

“I love Ross -- he’s a great guy. I was just sort of in my own little zone and was just ‘Wow, it’s finally happened’. It’s relief, it’s just massive relief.” Wilby, who was back in seventh after 100m, felt he had been in control despite leaving it late to beat Murdoch and Australia’s Matt Wilson.

“The back end is always something I work on quite a lot so it was just a case of just going for it, nothing to lose,” he said.

“Those guys are really fast, it was just a case of sticking with them,” added Wilby, who goes in the 100m breaststroke heats against fellow Englishman Adam Peaty, the Olympic champion, on Friday.

“I’ve been stuck on 2:10 flat for a year or two, so to smash that and do it at a competition like this is huge.”

Murdoch tried to put a positive spin on the setback.

“I’ve not lost a title at all,” he insisted. “I was not defending anything tonight. There’s nothing to defend, I had nothing to lose -- I went in there and got a silver medal.”

Willmott squealed with delight after her surprise win, which came on a night James Guy claimed bronze behind Australia’s Olympic champion Mack Horton in the men’s 400m freestyle and England also took bronze behind the hosts in the women’s 4x100m freestyle.

“I really, really, really wanted the gold medal,” said Willmott after edging out Miley by just 0.26 seconds to avenge her defeat in Glasgow four years ago. (AFP)

“It’s absolutely incredible. I’ve been second pretty much every single time I’ve raced against Hannah,” added the 25-year-old, who had knee surgery nine months ago.

“I thought she was coming for me so I just stuck my head down. My legs are so sore but it was just totally worth it.”

Willmott’s victory was all the more remarkable after a spate of injuries shook her confidence.

“After two broken ribs, a bashed elbow and knee surgery it was just a huge sigh of relief to get here,” she said. “To just do the business is incredible.”