REDDITCH has laid claim to a Commonwealth silver medal after Adam Ruckwood was part of the England team who came second in the men's 4x100m medley final.

In the last event of Manchester 2002, England brought home the bacon in a discipline dominated by the Australians, for whom Ian Thorpe won his sixth gold of the finals.

But the Redditch swimmer had a disappointing first leg and touched home after 56.66sec which put England fifth.

Visibly frustrated by his performance, the City of Birmingham swimmer stood poolside shaking his head in disappointment and watched as Adam Whitehead clawed back second place in a terrific second 100m.

England slipped to third after James Hickman's brave leg and it was left to Matt Kidd to claim silver with a gutsy swim which provoked a roar from a capacity 3,000 crowd at a humid Manchester Aquatics Centre.

Ruckwood opted not to face the press after the medal ceremony and could be set to call it a day after hinting he might retire after the Games.

The lure of Athens in 2004 will be strong but the Redditch ace considered retiring after a poor Commonwealth outing in Kuala Lumpur four years ago and told the Advertiser he would only consider the next Olympics if he had a good outing in Manchester.

In the individual events, Ruckwood seemed to have put the disappointment of going out of the mens 50m backstoke event behind him as put in a superb performance in his heat of the 100m event.

Ruckwood qualified second in his heat, beaten only by eventual gold medallist Matt Welsh and third overall behind the Thorpedo.

But the early promise disappeared with Ruckwood fifth overall in the semi and a distant sixth in the final.

There was another Redditch connection to the final Commonwealth medal table with former Redditch Swimming Club star Jamie Salter winning bronze as part of the men's 4x200m freestyle team.

England trailed a Thorpe-inspired Australia and Canada in the five team event but it was Salter who did more than any other for the cause.

The City of Edinburgh favourite swam the second leg and did much to catch Canadian Brian Lawrence Johns but his hard work was undone by a disappointing turn.

Salter qualified sixth overall in the 200m freestyle, beaten by Aussie Grant Hackett in his heat but stepped up a gear in the final only to finish fourth, 0.61sec behind Canadian Rick Say.