Swimming at the 2000 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay
The men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 16 September at the Sydney International Aquatic Centre in Sydney, Australia.[1]
| Men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay at the Games of the XXVII Olympiad | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Venue | Sydney International Aquatic Centre | |||||||||
| Dates | September 16, 2000 (heats & final) | |||||||||
| Competitors | 100 from 23 nations | |||||||||
| Winning time | 3:13.67 WR | |||||||||
| Medalists | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
For the first time in 36 years, the Australians solidified their triumph in front of a raucous home crowd as they upset the undefeated Americans to capture an Olympic title in the event. Leading by 0.25 seconds at the final relay exchange, Ian Thorpe was passed by U.S. swimmer Gary Hall Jr. at the 350 metres mark, but eventually recovered and touched the wall first with an anchor of 48.30 to deliver the Aussie foursome of Michael Klim (48.18), Chris Fydler (48.48), and Ashley Callus (48.74) a gold-medal time in 3:13.67. Leading off the race, Klim also established a global standard to shave 0.03 seconds off the record set by his Russian training partner Alexander Popov in 1994.[2][3]
Prior to the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay, Hall posted on his blog: "My biased opinion says that we will smash them (Australia's 4x100m team) like guitars. Historically the U.S. has always risen to the occasion. But the logic in that remote area of my brain says it won't be so easy for the United States to dominate the waters this time." The Australian team responded to Hall's remarks after the race by playing air guitar on the pool deck. Hall recalled the race, saying, "I don't even know how to play the guitar...I consider it the best relay race I've ever been part of. I doff my cap to the great Ian Thorpe. He had a better finish than I had."[4] Another member of Australia's victorious 4x100 team, Michael Klim, recalled that "Hall was the first swimmer to come over and congratulate us. Even though he dished it out, he was a true sportsman".
Team USA's Hall (48.24), Anthony Ervin (48.89), Neil Walker (48.31), and Jason Lezak (48.42) lost a powerful challenge to the Aussies only for the silver in a new American record of 3:13.86, the second-fastest time in history, finishing 1.25 seconds under their five-year-old world record.[5] Meanwhile, Brazil's team of Fernando Scherer (49.79), Gustavo Borges (48.61), Carlos Jayme (49.88), Edvaldo Silva Filho (49.12) earned their first ever relay medal in 20 years, as they took home the bronze with a time of 3:17.40.[6][7]
Germany (3;17.77), Italy (3:17.85), Sweden (3:19.60), and France (3:21.00) rounded out the championship field, while the Russians, led by Popov, were disqualified due to an early relay launch from Andrey Kapralov on the lead-off leg.[7]
In the absence of Pieter van den Hoogenband on the morning prelims, the Dutch team posted an excellent time of 3:18.32 to lead the first heat, but was cast out of the final race for an early jumping attempt from Dennis Rijnbeek during the second exchange.[8]
Records
editPrior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  United States (USA)David Fox (49.32) Joe Hudepohl (49.11) Jon Olsen (48.17) Gary Hall Jr. (47.45) |
3:15.11 | Atlanta, United States | 12 August 1995 | [9] |
| Olympic record |  United States (USA)Jon Olsen (49.94) Josh Davis (49.00) Brad Schumacher (49.02) Gary Hall Jr. (47.45) |
3:15.41 | Atlanta, United States | 23 July 1996 | [9] |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 16 | Final | Michael Klim (48.18) WR Chris Fydler (48.48) Ashley Callus (48.71) Ian Thorpe (48.30) |
 Australia |
3:13.67 | WR |
Results
editHeats
edit
Final
edit| Rank | Lane | Nation | Swimmers | Time | Time behind | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
5 | Australia |
Michael Klim (48.18) WR Chris Fydler (48.48) Ashley Callus (48.71) Ian Thorpe (48.30) |
3:13.67 | WR | |
 |
4 | United States |
Anthony Ervin (48.89) Neil Walker (48.31) Jason Lezak (48.42) Gary Hall Jr. (48.24) |
3:13.86 | 0.19 | AM |
 |
2 |  Brazil |
Fernando Scherer (49.79) Gustavo Borges (48.61) Carlos Jayme (49.88) Edvaldo Silva Filho (49.12) |
3:17.40 | 3.73 | |
| 4 | 3 |  Germany |
Torsten Spanneberg (49.63) Christian Tröger (49.06) Stephan Kunzelmann (50.20) Stefan Herbst (48.88) |
3:17.77 | 4.10 | |
| 5 | 6 |  Italy |
Lorenzo Vismara (49.23) Klaus Lanzarini (49.46) Massimiliano Rosolino (49.70) Simone Cercato (49.46) |
3:17.85 | 4.18 | |
| 6 | 1 |  Sweden |
Stefan Nystrand (50.06) Lars Frölander (48.12) Mattias Ohlin (49.99) Johan Nyström (51.43) |
3:19.60 | 5.93 | |
| 7 | 8 |  France |
Frédérick Bousquet (50.88) Romain Barnier (49.68) Hugo Viart (49.79) Nicolas Kintz (50.65) |
3:21.00 | 7.33 | |
| 7 |  Russia |
Andrey Kapralov (50.44) Denis Pimankov Alexander Popov Dmitry Chernyshov |
DSQ |
References
edit- ^ "Swimming schedule". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 14 September 2000. Retrieved 14 May 2013.
- ^ Harris, Beth (16 September 2000). "Thorpe Sets World Mark, Thompson Wins 6th Gold". ABC News. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
- ^ Longman, Jere (17 September 2000). "Sydney 2000: Swimming; Australia Aglow As Young Star Gets Two Golds". New York Times. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
- ^ Dusevic, Tom (September 18, 2000). "The Stuff of Heroes". Time. Archived from the original on November 22, 2010. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
- ^ "U.S. men lose relay for first time". ESPN. 16 September 2000. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
- ^ "Five world records broken on first day of swimming". Sports Illustrated. CNN. 16 September 2000. Archived from the original on June 28, 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
- ^ a b Whitten, Phillip (16 September 2000). "Olympic Day 1 Finals (Complete)". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ Whitten, Phillip (16 September 2000). "Olympic Day 1 Prelims (Complete)". Swimming World Magazine. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2013.
- ^ a b c "Sydney 2000: Swimming – Men's 4×100m Freestyle Relay Heats" (PDF). Sydney 2000. LA84 Foundation. pp. 337–339. Retrieved 26 June 2013.