Australia took gold in the men's team pursuit, beating England in the final and breaking the world record in the process.

The Aussie foursome of Alex Porter, Sam Welsford, Leigh Howardand Kelland O'Brienclocked a time of 3:49.804 to win by almost 6 seconds at the Anna Meares Velodrome.

Mack Horton earlier won Australia's first gold medal at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, winning the 400m freestyle ahead of fellow Australian Jack McLoughlin.

England's James Guy, who pushed the Aussies all the way, finished third. Horton recorded a time of 3:43.76, with McLoughlin following in 3:45.21.

It was the first time an Australian had won the event at the Comm Games since Ian Thorpe led another one-two with Grant Hackett in 2002.

Horton said the home crowd ensured the experience was special.

"Just swimming in front of the home crowd is unreal," he said. "I probably feel more emotion here than in Rio because the whole crowd is cheering for you. That didn't happen so much in Rio. Ten thousand people cheering for you is pretty unreal."

Moments later, Australia had its second gold, with the women's 4,000m pursuit teamscoring a convincing win over New Zealand in the final.

Alexandra Manly, Annette Edmondson, Ashlee Akudinoff and Amy Cure broke the Commonwealth Games record with a time of 4:15.214.

Rising star Ariarne Titmus almost gave Australia back-to-back gold medals in the pool but fell just short of victory in the women's 200m freestyle final.

The 17-year-old Titmus, who was attempting to win three individual golds at the Games, began conservatively but stormed home in the final lap, only to be out-touched by Canada's Taylor Ruck by just 0.04.

Ruck, who is also 17, posted a Games record of 1:54.81, with Titmus second in a personal best of 1:54.85 and fellow Australian Emma McKeon, the defending champion, claiming bronze with a time of 1:56.26.

"I'm pretty stoked, I didn't think I would go out fast tonight," Titmus said. "Obviously I wanted to win the gold and Taylor was just better than me tonight. I accept that, that was an incredible swim from her."

Titmus still has the 400m and 800m freestyle events, as well as the 4x200m freestyle relay, on her program in Southport.

"I didn't think I would that quick, so it's really good for the 400 and 800," Titmus said.

Blair Evans had earlier won Australia's first swimming medal of the Games, with a bronze in the women's 400m individual medley.