MANCHESTER (AFP) — Matt Welsh lived up to his world champion status here yesterday, beating Ian Thorpe in the 100m backstroke to end the Australian superstar’s campaign for seven Commonwealth Games swimming golds.

Thorpe came into the final with five gold medals — and a world record in the 400m freestyle — but the backstroke was always seen as the event most likely to derail his bid for an unprecedented seven.

He finished second to Welsh at the national championships and added the back to his competition schedule only recently.

Welsh won in 54.72sec, with Thorpe second in 55.38 and Malaysia’s Alex Lim third in 55.44.

Lim, whose runner-up finish in the 50m backstroke made him Malaysia’s first Commonwealth swimming medallist, led Thorpe at the turn.

“That’s my best time,” Thorpe said. “That’s a good result for me. I’ll be able to walk away happy. There’s no disappointment. I congratulated Matt. He’s world champion, he’s an excellent backstroker and a great swimmer.”

The Welsh-Thorpe duel loomed large on a night of 11 swimming finals, but in the early going there was glory for the home countries.

Sarah Price and James Gibson led English medals sweeps and Alison Sheppard won the women’s 50m feestyle in 24.76sec to become Scotland’s first Commonwealth Games swimming gold medallist since David Wilkie won two golds in 1974.

“That was fantastic,” Sheppard said. “There was a lot of pressure on me tonight to get gold, and I achieved it. I was feeling a bit nervous, but I was confident at the same time.”

Australia’s 100m freestyle gold medallist Jodie Henry was second in 25.37, and New Zealand’s Toni Jeffs was third in 25.48.

Henry was satisfied with silver, especially since she swam a personal-best time.

“I wanted to get in there and do a good time,” she said. “I was concentrating on beating my personal best, and I did, so I am very happy with that.”

Gibson won the men’s 50m breaststroke in 27.72, ahead of 100m winner Adam Whitehead and David Mew.

Whitehead was second in 27.79 and Mew was third in 27.80.

“It was so slow, I am just relieved to have won it,” Gibson said. “I feel a bit lucky. A one-two-three shows great strength of character on the part of everyone. Roll on the Olympics.”

Mew added: “It’s tremendous, and a real boost to the team for the rest of the night and the rest of the Games.”

Price won the women’s 200m backstroke ahead of team-mates, Joanna Fargus and Katy Sexton.

Price added the 200m crown to her 100m title in a time of 2min 10.58sec, but couldn’t make it a treble as she finished third later in the 50m back behind Australian, Dyana Calub, and Canadian, Jennifer Carroll.

England celebrated another double gold medallist in Becky Cooke, who followed up her 800m freestyle win with a victory in the 400m free in a personal best of 4:09.49, ahead of Australian Elka Graham and Jamaican Janelle Atkinson.

Australia hit back with a one-two in the women’s 100m breaststroke, in which 16-year-old Leisel Jones added the title to her 200m breaststroke crown in a time of 1:08.74.