Josh Liendo’s strategy pays off with gold

I literally screamed “that has to be 0.01 of a second!” when I saw the 1 next to Josh Liendo’s lane on the screen at the conclusion of the 100-metre butterfly. 

Exactly the kind of race you love to see as a fan of competitive sport. We are used to seeing Josh finish strong in the final 15 metres, but he had a bit of a different strategy this time in the final, pushing the pace throughout the first 50, while Australian Matt Temple closed strong. 

Liendo made the crucial decision to take an additional stroke at the touch, instead of a longer glide, and that is what made the difference. That or the moustache being shaved. I guess we’ll never know. He’ll bring home Canada’s first gold medal at the pool in Glasgow, setting a new Games record in a time of 50.42 seconds. 

Josh seemed fired up when he got out of the water; there’s nothing more dangerous than a swimmer coming off a win. I’d say we can expect some magic from him shortly in the 50m freestyle final still to come in this session.