Alys Thomas knows exactly what she’s going to do after picking up her shock gold medal in the women’s 200 metre butterfly at Gold Coast – shave the head of her coach Stuart McNarry.

That was the deal that was struck before she went into her final if she went faster than 2 min, 6 sec. Not only did she do that, but she smashed the Commonwealth Games record and stripped two seconds off her previous best.

The 27-year-old Swansea swimmer, who became only the fourth Welsh women to strike gold in the pool after Pat Beavan (1978), Georgia Davies (2014) and Jazz Carlin (2014), dominated the race from start to finish to lead home the Aussie duo of Laura Taylor (2.07.39) and 100 metre champion Emma McKeon (2.08.05) as she won in 2.05.45.

That time beat Jemma Lowe’s Welsh and former British record mark of 2.06.64 set in 2008 and put her on course for a trip to the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.

“What, 2.05 – a two second PB? Training has been going well and I felt good in warm-up, so I put a bet on with my coach that if I went under 2.06 I could shave his head – I guess I can do that now and splash it all over social media,” said the Swansea-based Thomas.

“I couldn’t see anything because my goggles fogged up, so I just kept my eye on the blue line and followed that. I counted my own strokes and made it to the walls and just did what I always do in training.

“My family are all here and I’d like to thank everyone for their support. I’m 27 and this is my first medal major international medal.

It’s not just our @TeamWales Swimmers that should be celebrated, its our coaches as well. Congratulations to the man (@mcnarrys) that coached our @alys_thomas to success! #Inspirationnation @sport_wales @SpeedoUK https://t.co/MF9ZLN3goC

— Swim Wales (@SwimWales) April 9, 2018

“I’m finally breaking through now and it says something about not giving up when you are young. There is plenty of time, just be patient, work hard and it will come.

“You can learn so much getting in any pool and any race. My coach has always said that training is 90% physical and 10% mental, but when it comes to racing it flips, so the more you can learn in these environments the better.”

Having helped the Welsh 4 x 200 freestyle relay team break the Welsh record in finishing fifth, and reach two other finals, finishing sixth in the 50 metres and seventh in the 100 metres butterfly, it has been a fantastic Games for her. A veteran of the 2010 and 2014 Games, she was ninth in the 200 metres in Delhi and fourth in Glasgow four years ago.

Having successfully defended her British 100 butterfly title last year, and taken silver at 50 and 200 metres, she earned a ticket to the World Championships in Budapaest. She managed two top 15 finishes there, but her performance in Australia has rocketed her right up the global rankings.
Her success built on the two gold medals won in Glasgow and made up for the disappointment of seeing Jazz Carlin losing her grip on the 800 metres freestyle title

She came home in sixth place in a race that was dominated by 17-year-old Aussie Ariarne Titmus (8.20.02).

Carlin, who is turning her attentions to open water swimming ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, came home in 8:37.45, almost 20 seconds down on her Games record time four years ago. She was just ahead of Welsh team mate Ellena Jones (8.43.94).