Swimming at the 1980 Summer Olympics - Men's 4 x 100 metre medley relay
Encyclopedia
The men's 4×100 metre medley relay
event at the 1980 Summer Olympics
was held in Moscow
, Soviet Union
on 24 July 1980 in the Olympiski Sports Complex
. A total of 13 teams participated in the event. These were split over two heats held in the morning of that day, and the eight fastest teams qualified for the finals held in the evening of the same day.
The United States
, the winners of all previous editions of this event, were boycotting the games in response to the Soviet war in Afghanistan
. As a result, the Soviet Union
, Great Britain
, and Sweden
were expected to win. Australia
's Quietly Confident Quartet
, however, composed of backstroker Mark Kerry
, breaststroker Peter Evans
, butterflyer Mark Tonelli
, and freestyler Neil Brooks
, surprisingly won the final in 3:45.70. They were followed by the silver medalists Soviet Union, 0.22 seconds in arrears, and the bronze medalists Great Britain, as favorites Sweden had been disqualified in the heats. This was the only time a team other than United States won the gold medal in the event.
were notable for a large number of boycotting countries as a result of the host country
invading Afghanistan
in 1979. As a result, several medal favorites for the men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay race were absent. The most notable absence was the United States, who had won the event every time since its inception at the 1960 Games
, invariably by large margins, and would go on to win the event at all subsequent Games. Furthermore, they had also obtained the gold medal at the previous World Championships
, just two years before the Olympiad. This, together with the boycott of the silver and bronze medallists from the previous edition, West Germany
—who won the silver medal also at the World Championships—and Canada
respectively, meant that the field had opened.
Sweden
, Great Britain
, and the Soviet Union
were the most heavily favoured teams. Another ten National Olympic Committee
s were able to send teams to Moscow: Angola
, Australia
, Brazil
, Bulgaria
, East Germany, France
, Hungary
, Netherlands
, Spain
, and Vietnam
. Favorites Soviet Union boasted the silver medalists in the 100 m finals hosted several days earlier in backstroke and breaststroke (Viktor Kuznetsov
and Arsen Miskarov respectively), while their butterflyer (Yevgeny Seredin) and freestyler (Sergey Kopliakov
) had come fifth and fourth in their respective 100 m events. The British team included the 100 m breaststroke gold medallist (Duncan Goodhew
), and fifth-place finisher in the 100 m backstroke (Gary Abraham
). Sweden's butterflyer (Pär Arvidsson
) and backstroker (Bengt Baron
) had won their respective 100 m events, and their freestyle swimmer (Per Holmertz
) had come second in the 100 m, while their lowest ranked swimmer, the breaststroker (Peter Berggren
), had come ninth in the 100 m event.
The Australians were regarded as an outside chance for a medal, but were not seen as the main threats, as they were ranked seventh coming into the Olympics out of the 13 competing countries. In the five times the event had been contested, Australia had only won a silver in the inaugural race in Rome
, and a bronze medal in Tokyo
in 1964. On paper, Australia's team appeared much weaker than those of the other favorites: Peter Evans
was the only individual medalist in the distance, claiming bronze in the 100 m breaststroke, while Neil Brooks
, the freestyler, and Mark Kerry
, the backstroker, had been eliminated in their respective semifinals, and Mark Tonelli
was swimming as a makeshift butterflyer.
for Thursday, 24 July, the fifth day of swimming competition, with heats from 11 am, and the final from 9 pm. In the morning Sweden was disqualified in the first heat, while Australia and the Soviet Union competed in the second heat. With their superior depth, the home team was able to rest their entire first-choice quartet in the heats, while Australia was only willing to rest Kerry, with Glenn Patching
swimming the backstroke leg in his place. The hosts led the Australians from the start and extended their margin over each of the first three legs. Brooks reclaimed 1.34 s on the freestyle leg, but the Australians fell 0.13 s short to come second in their heat. Nevertheless, the Australians qualified in second place overall, as they and the Soviets were almost 2 s faster than the third-placed Hungarians. In any case, the home team, despite resting all of their first-choice quartet, were still faster than the Australians, who had rested only one. The winners of the first heat, Great Britain, had obtained a time slower than even the fourth-place finisher of the second heat, East Germany, and slower than the Soviets' by almost 3 seconds.
Kerry led off the Australian team in a faster time than he had clocked in the individual event, but it was still two seconds slower than his personal best time. Kerry finished in a time of 57.87 s, leaving Australia in fourth place at the end of the first leg. Kuznetsov gave the Soviets the lead with a leadoff leg of 56.81 s with Hungary and Great Britain in second and third place. France was last to reach the 100 m mark, posting a time of 58.84 s. Evans then swam a personal best of 63.01 s, the fastest split among the breaststrokers by 0.63 s. His leg moved Australia into second place at the halfway mark, just 0.45 s behind the hosts and roughly half a second ahead of the British and the Hungarians. The remainder of the teams had been dropped, with a two second gap back to the fifth-placed East Germans. Tonelli then swam his leg in 54.94 s, almost two seconds faster than he had done over the distance. Tonelli began to lose ground in the last 50 m and was a body length behind until a late surge brought him to within a metre by the end of his leg. Tonelli's butterfly leg was such that if he had swum the same time in the individual event, he would have claimed the silver medal. Although he lost 0.36 s to Seredin, he had minimised his loss and Australia were within 0.81 s going into the final leg. Furthermore, the Australians were now more than a second clear of the third placed Great Britain.
Brooks then made a powerful, well-timed dive and surfaced almost even with his Soviet counterpart Kopliakov. He had drawn level halfway through his leg and made a superior turn to take the lead as they headed home. The Soviet freestyler pulled level with 25 m to go before Brooks sprinted away again to seal an Australian victory by 0.22 s. He did not breathe in the last ten metres, and claimed to be laughing for the final five metres, confident that his opponent could not pass him. Brooks had finished his leg in 49.86 s as he had vowed to his team mates. In doing so, he recorded the fastest freestyle split in the relay, even faster than the individual 100 m freestyle gold medallist, Jörg Woithe
of East Germany.
hailed the win as "a gold medal that should never have been". Evans said of the relay, "It was unbelievable, but it was all so logical. I was so deliriously happy that I couldn't stop talking," as Brooks dedicated his win to his mother, who had died from cancer the previous Christmas.
The quartet had been under significant political pressure from the Government of Australia to boycott the 1980 Games, but under media pressure and criticism, the Prime Minister did eventually send a congratulatory telegram. In 2000, Evans quipped that "We're the Vietnam vets of the Olympic movement".
Upon returning to Australia, Evans and Brooks were raucously received in their hometown of Perth. They were denied a civic reception by the Lord Mayor Perth
because of his stance on Afghanistan, but the Lord Mayor of Fremantle
hosted one instead. Evans also received congratulations from Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser
. After being greeted as a hero, Brooks considered retiring as he felt that his gold had diminished his hunger for further success.
The quartet did not compete again as a unit following the Moscow Olympics, as Tonelli retired from swimming immediately after the Games. Australia came third in the 1984 Olympics in the medley relay as the Americans returned to the Olympic fold, with only Evans and Kerry of the original four swimming in the final, while Brooks swam in the heats. Evans and Kerry both retired after the 1984 Olympics, and after Brooks retired in 1986, the last of the Quietly Confident Quartet had departed the Australian swimming scene.
World record progression 4x100 metres medley relay
The world record in the 4×100 metres medley swimming relay was first recognised in 1953 by FINA, with world swimming governing body. Initially world records were only recognised in long course swimming pools which were a minimum of 50 metres in length – some of the early records were achieved...
event at the 1980 Summer Olympics
1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament...
was held in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
on 24 July 1980 in the Olympiski Sports Complex
Olympic Stadium (Moscow arena)
Olympic Stadium, known locally as the Olimpiyskiy or Olimpiski, is a large indoor arena, located in Moscow, Russia. It was built for the 1980 Summer Olympics and hosted the basketball and boxing events. A part of the Olimpiyskiy Sports Complex, it makes up one architectural ensemble with another...
. A total of 13 teams participated in the event. These were split over two heats held in the morning of that day, and the eight fastest teams qualified for the finals held in the evening of the same day.
The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, the winners of all previous editions of this event, were boycotting the games in response to the Soviet war in Afghanistan
Soviet war in Afghanistan
The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...
. As a result, the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
were expected to win. Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
's Quietly Confident Quartet
Quietly Confident Quartet
The Quietly Confident Quartet was the self-given name of the Australian men's 4 × 100 m medley relay swimming team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow...
, however, composed of backstroker Mark Kerry
Mark Kerry
Marcus "Mark" Anthony Kerry is a former Australian backstroke and freestyle swimmer of the 1970s and 1980s, who won three Olympic medals, including a gold in the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the 1980 Moscow Olympics as the backstroker for the Quietly Confident Quartet...
, breaststroker Peter Evans
Peter Evans (swimmer)
Peter Maxwell Evans is a former Australian breaststroke swimmer of the 1980s, who won four Olympic medals, most notably a gold in the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the 1980 Moscow Olympics as part of the Quietly Confident Quartet...
, butterflyer Mark Tonelli
Mark Tonelli
Mark Lyndon Tonelli is a former Australian backstroke, butterfly and freestyle swimmer of the 1970s and 1980s, who won a gold in the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the 1980 Moscow Olympics as a makeshift butterfly swimmer in the self-named Quietly Confident Quartet...
, and freestyler Neil Brooks
Neil Brooks
Neil Brooks is a former Australian sprint freestyle swimmer best known for winning the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow as part of the Quietly Confident Quartet. Brooks was as much known for his swimming achievements as he was for disciplinary incidents...
, surprisingly won the final in 3:45.70. They were followed by the silver medalists Soviet Union, 0.22 seconds in arrears, and the bronze medalists Great Britain, as favorites Sweden had been disqualified in the heats. This was the only time a team other than United States won the gold medal in the event.
Preview
The 1980 Summer Olympic Games1980 Summer Olympics
The 1980 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Moscow in the Soviet Union. In addition, the yachting events were held in Tallinn, and some of the preliminary matches and the quarter-finals of the football tournament...
were notable for a large number of boycotting countries as a result of the host country
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
invading Afghanistan
Soviet war in Afghanistan
The Soviet war in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict involving the Soviet Union, supporting the Marxist-Leninist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan against the Afghan Mujahideen and foreign "Arab–Afghan" volunteers...
in 1979. As a result, several medal favorites for the men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay race were absent. The most notable absence was the United States, who had won the event every time since its inception at the 1960 Games
1960 Summer Olympics
The 1960 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held from August 25 to September 11, 1960 in Rome, Italy...
, invariably by large margins, and would go on to win the event at all subsequent Games. Furthermore, they had also obtained the gold medal at the previous World Championships
Swimming at the 1978 World Aquatics Championships
These are the results of the swimming competition at the 1978 World Aquatics Championships.-Medal table:-Men:Legend: WR – World record; CR – Championship record-Women:...
, just two years before the Olympiad. This, together with the boycott of the silver and bronze medallists from the previous edition, West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
—who won the silver medal also at the World Championships—and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
respectively, meant that the field had opened.
Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
, and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
were the most heavily favoured teams. Another ten National Olympic Committee
National Olympic Committee
National Olympic Committees are the national constituents of the worldwide Olympic movement. Subject to the controls of the International Olympic Committee, they are responsible for organizing their people's participation in the Olympic Games...
s were able to send teams to Moscow: Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
, East Germany, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, and Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. Favorites Soviet Union boasted the silver medalists in the 100 m finals hosted several days earlier in backstroke and breaststroke (Viktor Kuznetsov
Viktor Kuznetsov (swimmer)
Viktor Aleksandrovich Kuznetsov is a former backstroke swimmer from the Soviet Union. He won two silver medals at the boycotted 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, USSR.-References:**...
and Arsen Miskarov respectively), while their butterflyer (Yevgeny Seredin) and freestyler (Sergey Kopliakov
Sergey Kopliakov
Sergey Viktorovich Koplyakov is a former Soviet male swimmer who won two gold medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics.The arriving to the first page of the world swimming of Sergey Kopliakov in 1979...
) had come fifth and fourth in their respective 100 m events. The British team included the 100 m breaststroke gold medallist (Duncan Goodhew
Duncan Goodhew
Duncan Alexander Goodhew MBE is a British swimming athlete. After swimming competitively in America as a collegian at North Carolina State University, he was an Olympic swimmer for Great Britain and won Olympic gold and bronze medals at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.-Biography:Goodhew...
), and fifth-place finisher in the 100 m backstroke (Gary Abraham
Gary Abraham
Gary Abraham is an Olympic and Commonwealth medalist. He won the bronze medal in the 1980 Summer Olympics for Great Britain as part of the 4×100 m medley relay. Abraham swam the backstroke leg for the team....
). Sweden's butterflyer (Pär Arvidsson
Pär Arvidsson
Pär Arvidsson was a butterfly swimmer from Sweden. He won the 100 m butterfly at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, after having set the world record in the same event a couple of months earlier in Austin, Texas...
) and backstroker (Bengt Baron
Bengt Baron
Bengt Baron is a former backstroke swimmer from Sweden. He won the 100 m backstroke at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, and was a member of the bronze winning team from Sweden in the 4×100 m freestyle at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. An undergraduate student from the...
) had won their respective 100 m events, and their freestyle swimmer (Per Holmertz
Per Holmertz
Per Anders Gustaf Holmertz is a former freestyle swimmer from Sweden. He won a silver medal in the 100 m freestyle at the 1980 Summer Olympics but did later receive the gold medal after it was revealed that Jörg Woithe had used illegal drugs.He is not a sibling of the accomplished swimmer Anders...
) had come second in the 100 m, while their lowest ranked swimmer, the breaststroker (Peter Berggren
Peter Berggren
Lars Peter Berggren is a former Swedish Olympic swimmer. He competed at the 1980 Summer Olympics and the 1984 Summer Olympics. His best individual result was a 7th place in the men's 200 m breaststroke event in 1980.-References:*...
), had come ninth in the 100 m event.
The Australians were regarded as an outside chance for a medal, but were not seen as the main threats, as they were ranked seventh coming into the Olympics out of the 13 competing countries. In the five times the event had been contested, Australia had only won a silver in the inaugural race in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, and a bronze medal in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
in 1964. On paper, Australia's team appeared much weaker than those of the other favorites: Peter Evans
Peter Evans (swimmer)
Peter Maxwell Evans is a former Australian breaststroke swimmer of the 1980s, who won four Olympic medals, most notably a gold in the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the 1980 Moscow Olympics as part of the Quietly Confident Quartet...
was the only individual medalist in the distance, claiming bronze in the 100 m breaststroke, while Neil Brooks
Neil Brooks
Neil Brooks is a former Australian sprint freestyle swimmer best known for winning the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the 1980 Olympics in Moscow as part of the Quietly Confident Quartet. Brooks was as much known for his swimming achievements as he was for disciplinary incidents...
, the freestyler, and Mark Kerry
Mark Kerry
Marcus "Mark" Anthony Kerry is a former Australian backstroke and freestyle swimmer of the 1970s and 1980s, who won three Olympic medals, including a gold in the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the 1980 Moscow Olympics as the backstroker for the Quietly Confident Quartet...
, the backstroker, had been eliminated in their respective semifinals, and Mark Tonelli
Mark Tonelli
Mark Lyndon Tonelli is a former Australian backstroke, butterfly and freestyle swimmer of the 1970s and 1980s, who won a gold in the 4 × 100 m medley relay at the 1980 Moscow Olympics as a makeshift butterfly swimmer in the self-named Quietly Confident Quartet...
was swimming as a makeshift butterflyer.
Heats
The medley relay was scheduled in the Olympiski Sports ComplexOlympic Stadium (Moscow arena)
Olympic Stadium, known locally as the Olimpiyskiy or Olimpiski, is a large indoor arena, located in Moscow, Russia. It was built for the 1980 Summer Olympics and hosted the basketball and boxing events. A part of the Olimpiyskiy Sports Complex, it makes up one architectural ensemble with another...
for Thursday, 24 July, the fifth day of swimming competition, with heats from 11 am, and the final from 9 pm. In the morning Sweden was disqualified in the first heat, while Australia and the Soviet Union competed in the second heat. With their superior depth, the home team was able to rest their entire first-choice quartet in the heats, while Australia was only willing to rest Kerry, with Glenn Patching
Glenn Patching
Glenn Patching was an Australian backstroke and freestyle swimmer of the 1970s and 1980s, who won the gold medal in the men's 100 metres backstroke event at the 1978 Commonwealth Games. He represented his native country at two consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1976.-References:*...
swimming the backstroke leg in his place. The hosts led the Australians from the start and extended their margin over each of the first three legs. Brooks reclaimed 1.34 s on the freestyle leg, but the Australians fell 0.13 s short to come second in their heat. Nevertheless, the Australians qualified in second place overall, as they and the Soviets were almost 2 s faster than the third-placed Hungarians. In any case, the home team, despite resting all of their first-choice quartet, were still faster than the Australians, who had rested only one. The winners of the first heat, Great Britain, had obtained a time slower than even the fourth-place finisher of the second heat, East Germany, and slower than the Soviets' by almost 3 seconds.
Final
The Australian Evans took the opportunity to attempt to regain the psychological ascendancy from the Briton Goodhew, confronting him privately and stating that "we will win it", before noting that Goodhew was astounded by his posturing. Tonelli, the eldest swimmer in the Australian quartet at the age of 23, convened the team as its de facto leader, and asked his team-mates to commit to swimming their legs in a certain time; Kerry vowed to swim the backstroke in 57 s, Evans the breaststroke in 63 s flat, Tonelli the butterfly in 54 s and Brooks promised to anchor the team in 49.8 s, even though he had never gone faster than 51 s in his career. Tonelli named the foursome as the Quietly Confident Quartet, and they exhibited a silent assurance as they lined up for the race. Whereas most of the other teams were "psyching up" in the marshalling area, the Australians were remaining light-hearted, convinced that they could perform in the final.Kerry led off the Australian team in a faster time than he had clocked in the individual event, but it was still two seconds slower than his personal best time. Kerry finished in a time of 57.87 s, leaving Australia in fourth place at the end of the first leg. Kuznetsov gave the Soviets the lead with a leadoff leg of 56.81 s with Hungary and Great Britain in second and third place. France was last to reach the 100 m mark, posting a time of 58.84 s. Evans then swam a personal best of 63.01 s, the fastest split among the breaststrokers by 0.63 s. His leg moved Australia into second place at the halfway mark, just 0.45 s behind the hosts and roughly half a second ahead of the British and the Hungarians. The remainder of the teams had been dropped, with a two second gap back to the fifth-placed East Germans. Tonelli then swam his leg in 54.94 s, almost two seconds faster than he had done over the distance. Tonelli began to lose ground in the last 50 m and was a body length behind until a late surge brought him to within a metre by the end of his leg. Tonelli's butterfly leg was such that if he had swum the same time in the individual event, he would have claimed the silver medal. Although he lost 0.36 s to Seredin, he had minimised his loss and Australia were within 0.81 s going into the final leg. Furthermore, the Australians were now more than a second clear of the third placed Great Britain.
Brooks then made a powerful, well-timed dive and surfaced almost even with his Soviet counterpart Kopliakov. He had drawn level halfway through his leg and made a superior turn to take the lead as they headed home. The Soviet freestyler pulled level with 25 m to go before Brooks sprinted away again to seal an Australian victory by 0.22 s. He did not breathe in the last ten metres, and claimed to be laughing for the final five metres, confident that his opponent could not pass him. Brooks had finished his leg in 49.86 s as he had vowed to his team mates. In doing so, he recorded the fastest freestyle split in the relay, even faster than the individual 100 m freestyle gold medallist, Jörg Woithe
Jörg Woithe
Jörg Woithe is a German former swimmer and olympic champion. He competed at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, where he received a gold medal in 100 m freestyle....
of East Germany.
Aftermath
The time of 3 m 45.70 s sealed Australia's first ever win in a medley relay at the Olympics, for men or women, and it still remains the only time that the United States did not won the men's event. After the race, the team made a celebratory dive into the water and performed a poolside interview. Tonelli remarked that "I was totally stunned. After all the hassle, and my being the athletes' mouthpiece, we'd come through and done it". Australia's women's captain Lisa ForrestLisa Forrest
Elizabeth Marie "Lisa" Forrest is a former Australian swimmer and current media personality. Forrest was the captain of the Australian swimming team at the 1980 Summer Olympics-References:...
hailed the win as "a gold medal that should never have been". Evans said of the relay, "It was unbelievable, but it was all so logical. I was so deliriously happy that I couldn't stop talking," as Brooks dedicated his win to his mother, who had died from cancer the previous Christmas.
The quartet had been under significant political pressure from the Government of Australia to boycott the 1980 Games, but under media pressure and criticism, the Prime Minister did eventually send a congratulatory telegram. In 2000, Evans quipped that "We're the Vietnam vets of the Olympic movement".
Upon returning to Australia, Evans and Brooks were raucously received in their hometown of Perth. They were denied a civic reception by the Lord Mayor Perth
City of Perth
The City of Perth is a local government area and body, within the Perth Metropolitan Area, which is the capital of Western Australia. The local government body is commonly known as Perth City Council. The city covers the Perth central business district and surrounding suburbs...
because of his stance on Afghanistan, but the Lord Mayor of Fremantle
City of Fremantle
The City of Fremantle is a Local Government Area in South Metropolitan Perth. The City covers an area of , and lies about southwest of the Perth central business district.-History:...
hosted one instead. Evans also received congratulations from Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser
Malcolm Fraser
John Malcolm Fraser AC, CH, GCL, PC is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. He came to power in the 1975 election following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government, in which he played a key role...
. After being greeted as a hero, Brooks considered retiring as he felt that his gold had diminished his hunger for further success.
The quartet did not compete again as a unit following the Moscow Olympics, as Tonelli retired from swimming immediately after the Games. Australia came third in the 1984 Olympics in the medley relay as the Americans returned to the Olympic fold, with only Evans and Kerry of the original four swimming in the final, while Brooks swam in the heats. Evans and Kerry both retired after the 1984 Olympics, and after Brooks retired in 1986, the last of the Quietly Confident Quartet had departed the Australian swimming scene.
Results
Heats
| Q | Denotes teams that advanced to the finals |
| DSQ | Denotes teams that were disqualified |
| Rank |
Heat |
Country |
Backstroke leg |
Breaststroke leg |
Butterfly leg |
Freestyle leg |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Q | ||||||
| 2 | Q | ||||||
| 2 | Q | ||||||
| 2 | Q | ||||||
| 1 | Q | ||||||
| 2 | Q | ||||||
| 1 | Q | ||||||
| 2 | Q | ||||||
| 1 | |||||||
| 10 | 1 | ||||||
| 11 | 1 | ||||||
| 1 | DSQ | ||||||
| 2 | DSQ |
Final
| Rank |
Country |
Backstroke leg |
Breaststroke leg |
Butterfly leg |
Freestyle leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||
 |
|||||
 |
|||||
| 4 | |||||
| 5 | |||||
| 6 | |||||
| 7 | |||||
| 8 |