Australia’s swimmers won two gold medals on the final night of competition to complete a record haul of Commonwealth Games medals, while our shooters also picked up two more golds to top their sport’s medal tally.

Daniel Tranter took out the 200m individual swim medley final before Australia’s women’s 4x100m medley relay team won the nation’s 19th gold medal of the Glasgow meet.

The men’s medley team just fell short of completing a clean sweep of the relay events, taking silver with a scintillating last leg by James Magnussen unable to reel in gold medallists England.

Magnussen also took bronze in the men’s 50m freestyle final and Cameron McEvoy silver as England’s Ben Proud won gold.

There were also minor medals for Mack Horton (silver, 1500m freestyle), Katherine Downie (silver para-sport women’s 200m individual medley) and Bronte Barratt (bronze, 400m freestyle).

Australia finished the six-day swimming meet with 57 medals; 19 gold, 21 silver and 17 bronze. It surpassed Delhi 2010 and Melbourne 2006 (both 54) as the most medals collected at a single event, though Australia had three more gold in Delhi.

Australia’s total medal tally currently stands at 101 (34 gold, 31 silver, 36 bronze), putting it at the top of the medal board. England has 93 medals (33 gold, 33 silver, 27 bronze).

In the shooting, Australians Adam Vella and David Chapman both won gold on the final day, taking the 29-strong team’s final tally to six gold and two bronze.

Australian mountain bikers Daniel McConnell and Bec Henderson broke an Australian drought in their sport, bringing home bronze in the men’s and women’s cross-country event.

Australia’s Simplice Ribouem has missed out on a second Commonwealth gold medal in a dramatic 94kg weightlifting event.

The Cameroon-born 31-year-old was in the winning position after Papua New Guinea’s Steven Kari received two red lights from an ambitious 200kg attempt. However, the decision was rescinded, leaving Ribouem to lift again.

His 201kg attempt in the clean and jerk proved too much and Ribouem was left with a silver medal four years after winning gold in the 85kg event.

Australian Katherine Downie claimed a silver medal in the women’s para-sport 200m individual medley SM10, clocking two minutes and 31.98 seconds in the final final, which was won by New Zealand’s Sophie Pascoe in 2:27.74.

Tranter rewarded for perseverance

A swimming career that started with a near-drowning experience and almost ended after a serious car crash has culminated in Commonwealth Games gold for Daniel Tranter.

The 22-year-old New South Welshman was rewarded for his perseverance through a host of setbacks by winning the men’s 200m individual medley final in Glasgow on Tuesday.

“Unfortunately it’s been a bit of bumpy road for me but that adds to the experience I think,” Tranter said.

Tranter clocked a Games record time of one minute and 57.83 seconds to finish ahead of Scotland’s Daniel Wallace (1:58.72) and South African star Chad le Clos (1:58.85) in Tuesday night’s final.

However. just making it to his first Commonwealth Games has been a triumph for Tranter.

In 2012, just two months out from Olympic trials, he was involved in a car accident when a water bottle fell off his lap and became stuck under his brake. He hit the back of a stationary car travelling at around 60kph, writing off his car. While nobody was seriously hurt, his back and neck were injured and he feared his Olympic dream was over.

However several weeks later he returned to the pool and, with the help of coach Brant Best, showed remarkable determination to fight back and book an Olympic berth in London.

Tranter had already suffered setbacks include suffering from swine flu leading into the 2010 Commonwealth Games and a serious rib injury that prompted him to briefly retire in 2011.

He also battled asthma and knee problems as a child. Tranter’s been up against it from the day his mother rescued him from the bottom of a backyard pool – an experience which led to him learning to swim.

“I was at a friend’s birthday party in year one and saw everyone else sitting in the pool and thought I could do that naturally,” Tranter said.

“It turns out I couldn’t. Mum was there to jump in and grab me and I was able to see mum at the end of the pool tonight. One extreme to the other.”

Tranter said his medal was his “little way of giving back” to everyone who had helped him overcome his obstacles.

“It’s been hard and this is like a little light at the end of the tunnel for me,” Tranter said.

Shooters defy odds to double gold tally

Australian Adam Vella in action at Barry Buddon Shooting Centre.

Australia’s gold-laden shooting team not only reversed its fortunes in Glasgow but also helped dispel stereotypes, says Shooting Australia boss Damien Marangon.

After a dismal showing in Delhi four years ago, the shooters proved a spectacular success story for Australia at the Commonwealth Games, topping their sport’s medal table.

With gold medals to Adam Vella and David Chapman on the final day, the 29-strong team finished the five days of competition at Carnoustie with six gold and two bronze.

England was next best with five gold, two silver and six bronze, while India, who dominated their 2010 home Games, could only manage four gold, nine silver and four bronze.

In Delhi, Australia had their worst return in 32 years with three gold, two silver and two bronze.

The 2014 Glasgow effort was made even more remarkable given team events were dropped from the schedule, slashing the number of gold medals on offer from 36 to just 19.

Marangon said the team exceeded all expectations.

“We are delighted that so many of our athletes, when getting into medal positions, have actually been able to convert,” he told AAP.

“We’re thrilled with the way the athletes have responded, particularly under pressure.”

Marangon said it was no accident, given the sport’s renewed emphasis on its high-performance program following the woeful result in Delhi.

“We’ve put a lot of time, effort, energy and resources into getting that right,” he said.

“And I think Glasgow is just the first step in the journey we need to take to truly become a successful sport and have sustained international success.”

Marangon said shooting was not far behind swimming and cycling in terms of success and the sport’s latest crop of medal winners had helped dispel stereotypes.

Mountain bikers break drought

Daniel McConnell’s teenaged New Zealand rivals left him for dust on the dirt.

Anton Cooper and Sam Gaze hit the afterburners on Tuesday and torched McConnell’s dream of an historic Australian mountain biking gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.

While McConnell and his partner Bec Henderson broke an Australian drought in the sport, the world No.4 went into the cross-country race as the man to beat.

Cooper, 18, and 19-year-old Gaze did just that with withering sprints in the last couple of hundred metres at Cathkin Braes mountain bike trails.

“Obviously I’m happy to walk away with the bronze medal, but it wasn’t quite the colour I was after,’ McConnell said.

“I was just out-matched today, the Kiwi boys rode really smart. I just couldn’t quite have the power to go with them.”

By contrast, Henderson had probably her best race of the season to finish third behind winner Catharine Prendrel and fellow Canadia Emily Batty in the women’s race.

The only other medal Australia has won in mountain biking at the Olympics or Commonwealth Games was Mary Grigson’s bronze in Manchester 12 years ago.

Henderson, last year’s under-23 World Cup champion, is 22 and in her first year as a senior rider.

“I’m so excited – it’s my first Commonwealth Games, my first medal and it’s such a privilege to be here,” she said.