| | Event type

4 × 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Men

Date	16 September 2000
Status	Olympic
Location	Sydney International Aquatic Centre, Olympic Park, Sydney, New South Wales
Participants	100 from 23 countries

Perhaps with only the exception of Cathy Freeman’s victory over 400 metres in track in field, the 4 x 100 metres freestyle relay epitomized the Sydney Olympic Games to the people of Australia. This was an epic struggle between the best swimming nations in the world and, at least for the home nation, ended in a victory of epic proportions. The background to the race was fairly clear – the US always wins this race at the Olympic Games but this time Australia had a quartet of high quality and their most recent, at the 1999 Pan-Pacific Championships, had resulted in a rare win for the Aussies. Before the Games things even got a bit personal between the two teams as the USA’s Gary Hall, Jr. predicted that his team would “Smash the Aussies like guitars”.

In the final Michael Klim got the Australians off to the best possible start by breaking the world record for the 100 metres freestyle on the opening flag. The second and third legs followed the same pattern as the USA chased down Australia and took the lead only to lose that lead before the changeover. The big guns took to the pool on the anchor leg with Hall facing Ian Thorpe to resolve the dispute. Once again American started quickly and pulled out a gap on his rival but Thorpe was relentless in the chase and, with the crowd whipped up into frenzy, took the lead with five strokes left and held on record a memorable victory. Needless to say both teams smashed the existing world record. In celebration and noting Hall’s comment, Michael Klim played air guitar to the Australian fans.

Pos	Competitors	NOC	R1	Final
1	Australia	AUS	3:17.37 (1 h2)	3:13.67 (1)	Gold
	Michael Klim		–	–
	Chris Fydler		–	–
	Ashley Callus		–	–
	Ian Thorpe		–	–
	Todd Pearson		–	–
	Adam Pine		–	–
2	United States	USA	3:15.43 (1 h3)	3:13.86 (2)	Silver
	Anthony Ervin		–	–
	Neil Walker		–	–
	Jason Lezak		–	–
	Gary Hall, Jr.		–	–
	Josh Davis		–	–
	Scott Tucker		–	–
3	Brazil	BRA	3:19.29 (2 h3)	3:17.40 (3)	Bronze
	Xuxa Scherer		–	–
	Gustavo Borges		–	–
	Carlos Jayme		–	–
	Edvaldo Valério		–	–
4	Germany	GER	3:18.70 (1 h1)	3:17.77 (4)
	Torsten Spanneberg		–	–
	Christian Tröger		–	–
	Stephan Kunzelmann		–	–
	Stefan Herbst		–	–
	Lars Conrad		–	–
5	Italy	ITA	3:18.86 (2 h1)	3:17.85 (5)
	Lorenzo Vismara		–	–
	Klaus Lanzarini		–	–
	Massi Rosolino		–	–
	Simone Cercato		–	–
	Mauro Gallo		–	–
6	Sweden	SWE	3:19.80 (3 h2)	3:19.60 (6)
	Stefan Nystrand		–	–
	Lars Frölander		–	–
	Mattias Ohlin		–	–
	Johan Nyström		–	–
	Johan Wallberg		–	–
7	France	FRA	3:20.19 (4 h2)	3:21.00 (7)
	Fréd Bousquet		–	–
	Romain Barnier		–	–
	Hugo Viart		–	–
	Nicolas Kintz		–	–
8	Russian Federation	RUS	3:19.70 (2 h2)	– (DQ)
	Andrey Kapralov		–	–
	Denis Pimankov		–	–
	Aleksandr Popov		–	–
	Dmitry Chernyshov		–	–
	Leonid Khokhlov		–	–
9	Great Britain	GBR	3:20.45 (3 h3)	–
	Paul Belk		–	–
	Sion Brinn		–	–
	Anthony Howard		–	–
	Mark Stevens		–	–
10	Belarus	BLR	3:20.85 (3 h1)	–
	Dzmitry Kalinovski		–	–
	Ihar Kaliada		–	–
	Paval Lahun		–	–
	Aleh Rukhlevich		–	–
11	South Africa	RSA	3:21.28 (5 h2)	–
	Brendon Dedekind		–	–
	Nick Folker		–	–
	Terence Parkin		–	–
	Roland Schoeman		–	–
12	Ukraine	UKR	3:21.48 (4 h3)	–
	Artem Honcharenko		–	–
	Pavlo Khnykin		–	–
	Slava Shyrshov		–	–
	Rostyslav Svanidze		–	–
13	Canada	CAN	3:21.98 (5 h3)	–
	Craig Hutchison		–	–
	Yannick Lupien		–	–
	Rick Say		–	–
	Robbie Taylor		–	–
14	Israel	ISR	3:22.06 (6 h3)	–
	Oren Azrad		–	–
	Yoav Bruck		–	–
	Alexei Manziula		–	–
	Eithan Urbach		–	–
15	Spain	ESP	3:22.76 (4 h1)	–
	Juan Benavides		–	–
	Javier Botello		–	–
	Eduardo Lorente		–	–
	Jorge Ulibarri		–	–
16	Lithuania	LTU	3:23.68 (6 h2)	–
	Saulius Binevičius		–	–
	Rolandas Gimbutis		–	–
	Minvydas Packevičius		–	–
	Arūnas Savickas		–	–
17	Venezuela	VEN	3:24.64 (7 h2)	–
	Francisco Páez		–	–
	Oswaldo Quevedo		–	–
	Francisco Sánchez		–	–
	Carlos Santander		–	–
18	Denmark	DEN	3:24.78 (7 h3)	–
	Henrik Steen Andersen		–	–
	Jacob Carstensen		–	–
	Dennis Otzen Jensen		–	–
	Jeppe Bøje Nielsen		–	–
19	Croatia	CRO	3:24.96 (5 h1)	–
	Duje Draganja		–	–
	Marijan Kanjer		–	–
	Alen Lončar		–	–
	Ivan Mladina		–	–
20	Kyrgyzstan	KGZ	3:25.03 (8 h2)	–
	Sergey Ashikhmin		–	–
	Dmitry Kuzmin		–	–
	Aleksey Pavlov		–	–
	Konstantin Ushkov		–	–
21	Kazakhstan	KAZ	3:28.90 (8 h3)	–
	Sergey Borisenko		–	–
	Andrey Kvasov		–	–
	Pavel Sidorov		–	–
	Igor Sitnikov		–	–
DQ	Netherlands	NED	– (DQ h1)	–
	Ewout Holst		–	–
	Johan Kenkhuis		–	–
	Dennis Rijnbeek		–	–
	Mark Veens		–	–
DQ	Uzbekistan	UZB	– (DQ h1)	–
	Ravil Nachayev		–	–
	Oleg Pukhnaty		–	–
	Oleg Tsvetkovsky		–	–
	Pyotr Vasilyev		–	–

Round One

Date	16 September 2000
Format	Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Pos	Lane	Team	NOC	Time
1	–	United States	USA	3:15.43	Q
2	–	Australia	AUS	3:17.37	Q
3	–	Germany	GER	3:18.70	Q
4	–	Italy	ITA	3:18.86	Q
5	–	Brazil	BRA	3:19.29	Q
6	–	Russian Federation	RUS	3:19.70	Q
7	–	Sweden	SWE	3:19.80	Q
8	–	France	FRA	3:20.19	Q
9	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:20.45
10	–	Belarus	BLR	3:20.85
11	–	South Africa	RSA	3:21.28
12	–	Ukraine	UKR	3:21.48
13	–	Canada	CAN	3:21.98
14	–	Israel	ISR	3:22.06
15	–	Spain	ESP	3:22.76
16	–	Lithuania	LTU	3:23.68
17	–	Venezuela	VEN	3:24.64
18	–	Denmark	DEN	3:24.78
19	–	Croatia	CRO	3:24.96
20	–	Kyrgyzstan	KGZ	3:25.03
21	–	Kazakhstan	KAZ	3:28.90
DQ	–	Uzbekistan	UZB	–		1
DQ	–	Netherlands	NED	–		2

Heat #1

Time	12:35

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 metre Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	Germany	GER	3:18.70	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Lars Conrad		–	0.84	23.86	50.60 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Torsten Spanneberg		–	0.09	23.78	49.41 (1)	1:40.01 (3)
3rd Leg	–	Stephan Kunzelmann		–	0.23	23.32	49.63 (2)	2:29.64 (2)
Anchor	–	Stefan Herbst		–	0.28	23.46	49.06 (1)	– (–)
2	–	Italy	ITA	3:18.86	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Lorenzo Vismara		–	0.85	24.27	49.91 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Mauro Gallo		–	0.19	23.51	49.92 (3)	1:39.83 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Klaus Lanzarini		–	0.00	23.29	49.60 (1)	2:29.43 (1)
Anchor	–	Simone Cercato		–	0.08	23.54	49.43 (2)	– (–)
3	–	Belarus	BLR	3:20.85	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Ihar Kaliada		–	0.72	23.89	49.95 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Paval Lahun		–	0.02	23.57	49.80 (2)	1:39.75 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Dzmitry Kalinovski		–	0.35	24.11	51.16 (5)	2:30.91 (3)
Anchor	–	Aleh Rukhlevich		–	0.32	23.19	49.94 (3)	– (–)
4	–	Spain	ESP	3:22.76	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Jorge Ulibarri		–	0.77	24.39	50.89 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Eduardo Lorente		–	0.42	23.60	50.52 (4)	1:41.41 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Juan Benavides		–	0.30	23.96	50.67 (3)	2:32.08 (4)
Anchor	–	Javier Botello		–	0.23	24.15	50.68 (4)	– (–)
5	–	Croatia	CRO	3:24.96	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Duje Draganja		–	0.83	24.08	50.45 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Marijan Kanjer		–	0.21	23.90	51.37 (5)	1:41.82 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Ivan Mladina		–	0.27	23.73	50.91 (4)	2:32.73 (5)
Anchor	–	Alen Lončar		–	0.44	24.13	52.23 (5)	– (–)
DQ	–	Uzbekistan	UZB	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)		3
Lead-off	–	Oleg Tsvetkovsky		–	[0.82]	[25.50]	[52.42] ([7])	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Oleg Pukhnaty		–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
3rd Leg	–	Pyotr Vasilyev		–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Anchor	–	Ravil Nachayev		–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
DQ	–	Netherlands	NED	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)		4
Lead-off	–	Mark Veens		–	[0.79]	[23.65]	[49.38] ([1])	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Dennis Rijnbeek		–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
3rd Leg	–	Ewout Holst		–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Anchor	–	Johan Kenkhuis		–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)

Heat #2

Time	12:42

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 metre Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	Australia	AUS	3:17.37	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Chris Fydler		–	0.78	23.88	49.72 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Todd Pearson		–	0.33	23.41	49.32 (1)	1:39.04 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Adam Pine		–	0.08	23.18	49.25 (3)	2:28.29 (1)
Anchor	–	Ashley Callus		–	0.37	23.53	49.08 (1)	– (–)
2	–	Russian Federation	RUS	3:19.70	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Denis Pimankov		–	0.82	23.94	49.93 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Leonid Khokhlov		–	0.36	23.42	51.02 (7)	1:40.95 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Andrey Kapralov		–	0.16	23.28	49.03 (2)	2:29.98 (4)
Anchor	–	Aleksandr Popov		–	0.44	23.69	49.72 (2)	– (–)
3	–	Sweden	SWE	3:19.80	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Stefan Nystrand		–	0.78	23.87	50.42 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Johan Wallberg		–	0.23	23.70	50.30 (5)	1:40.72 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Lars Frölander		–	0.23	23.29	48.79 (1)	2:29.51 (2)
Anchor	–	Mattias Ohlin		–	0.27	23.82	50.29 (4)	– (–)
4	–	France	FRA	3:20.19	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Romain Barnier		–	0.76	24.07	50.05 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Fréd Bousquet		–	0.10	23.74	49.41 (2)	1:39.46 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Hugo Viart		–	0.10	24.08	50.35 (5)	2:29.81 (3)
Anchor	–	Nicolas Kintz		–	0.36	23.91	50.38 (5)	– (–)
5	–	South Africa	RSA	3:21.28	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Roland Schoeman		–	0.72	23.83	50.19 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Brendon Dedekind		–	0.22	23.68	50.27 (4)	1:40.46 (3)
3rd Leg	–	Nick Folker		–	0.24	22.97	49.57 (4)	2:30.03 (5)
Anchor	–	Terence Parkin		–	0.53	24.55	51.25 (7)	– (–)
6	–	Lithuania	LTU	3:23.68	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Arūnas Savickas		–	0.77	24.95	52.11 (8)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Minvydas Packevičius		–	0.31	24.09	50.53 (6)	1:42.64 (=7)
3rd Leg	–	Saulius Binevičius		–	0.25	24.08	50.81 (7)	2:33.45 (7)
Anchor	–	Rolandas Gimbutis		–	0.21	22.45	50.23 (3)	– (–)
7	–	Venezuela	VEN	3:24.64	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Carlos Santander		–	0.75	24.12	51.28 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Oswaldo Quevedo		–	0.20	23.97	51.36 (8)	1:42.64 (=7)
3rd Leg	–	Francisco Páez		–	0.28	23.90	50.97 (8)	2:33.61 (8)
Anchor	–	Francisco Sánchez		–	0.18	23.71	51.03 (6)	– (–)
8	–	Kyrgyzstan	KGZ	3:25.03	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Sergey Ashikhmin		–	0.83	24.34	51.65 (7)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Konstantin Ushkov		–	0.24	23.27	50.04 (3)	1:41.69 (6)
3rd Leg	–	Dmitry Kuzmin		–	0.06	23.89	50.61 (6)	2:32.30 (6)
Anchor	–	Aleksey Pavlov		–	0.11	24.46	52.73 (8)	– (–)

Heat #3

Time	12:49

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 metre Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	United States	USA	3:15.43	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Scott Tucker		–	0.72	24.02	49.80 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Anthony Ervin		–	0.38	22.71	48.43 (1)	1:38.23 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Jason Lezak		–	0.31	23.18	48.46 (1)	2:26.69 (1)
Anchor	–	Josh Davis		–	0.28	22.98	48.74 (1)	– (–)
2	–	Brazil	BRA	3:19.29	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Xuxa Scherer		–	0.79	24.27	50.16 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Edvaldo Valério		–	0.33	23.59	49.26 (2)	1:39.42 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Carlos Jayme		–	0.42	23.86	50.10 (3)	2:29.52 (2)
Anchor	–	Gustavo Borges		–	0.42	23.77	49.77 (3)	– (–)
3	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:20.45	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Paul Belk		–	0.83	23.98	50.59 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Sion Brinn		–	0.29	22.90	49.52 (3)	1:40.11 (3)
3rd Leg	–	Anthony Howard		–	0.13	23.26	50.18 (4)	2:30.29 (3)
Anchor	–	Mark Stevens		–	0.00	22.96	50.16 (5)	– (–)
4	–	Ukraine	UKR	3:21.48	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Slava Shyrshov		–	0.86	23.47	49.77 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Rostyslav Svanidze		–	0.21	24.58	51.69 (7)	1:41.46 (6)
3rd Leg	–	Artem Honcharenko		–	0.11	23.98	49.98 (2)	2:31.44 (4)
Anchor	–	Pavlo Khnykin		–	0.14	23.59	50.04 (4)	– (–)
5	–	Canada	CAN	3:21.98	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Craig Hutchison		–	0.81	24.27	50.40 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Robbie Taylor		–	0.26	23.96	50.89 (5)	1:41.29 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Rick Say		–	0.21	24.12	50.97 (6)	2:32.26 (6)
Anchor	–	Yannick Lupien		–	0.36	23.96	49.72 (2)	– (–)
6	–	Israel	ISR	3:22.06	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Alexei Manziula		–	0.79	24.52	51.14 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Eithan Urbach		–	0.02	23.67	49.68 (4)	1:40.82 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Oren Azrad		–	0.54	24.75	50.68 (5)	2:31.50 (5)
Anchor	–	Yoav Bruck		–	0.37	24.18	50.56 (7)	– (–)
7	–	Denmark	DEN	3:24.78	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Dennis Otzen Jensen		–	0.76	24.41	51.69 (7)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Henrik Steen Andersen		–	0.30	24.59	51.45 (6)	1:43.14 (7)
3rd Leg	–	Jeppe Bøje Nielsen		–	0.04	24.14	51.18 (7)	2:34.32 (7)
Anchor	–	Jacob Carstensen		–	0.14	24.33	50.46 (6)	– (–)
8	–	Kazakhstan	KAZ	3:28.90	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Igor Sitnikov		–	0.87	24.63	52.56 (8)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Andrey Kvasov		–	0.35	24.57	52.25 (8)	1:44.81 (8)
3rd Leg	–	Pavel Sidorov		–	0.22	23.80	52.14 (8)	2:36.95 (8)
Anchor	–	Sergey Borisenko		–	0.19	24.51	51.95 (8)	– (–)

Final Round

Date	16 September 2000 — 20:15

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 metre Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	Australia	AUS	3:13.67	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	WR
Lead-off	–	Michael Klim		–	0.77	22.83	48.18 (1)	– (–)	IWR
2nd Leg	–	Chris Fydler		–	0.21	23.21	48.48 (3)	1:36.66 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Ashley Callus		–	0.42	23.30	48.71 (2)	2:25.37 (1)
Anchor	–	Ian Thorpe		–	0.12	23.34	48.30 (2)	– (–)
2	–	United States	USA	3:13.86	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Anthony Ervin		–	0.79	23.22	48.89 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Neil Walker		–	0.22	22.54	48.31 (2)	1:37.20 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Jason Lezak		–	0.21	22.69	48.42 (1)	2:25.62 (2)
Anchor	–	Gary Hall, Jr.		–	0.30	22.47	48.24 (1)	– (–)
3	–	Brazil	BRA	3:17.40	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Xuxa Scherer		–	0.77	23.69	49.79 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Gustavo Borges		–	0.07	22.79	48.61 (4)	1:38.40 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Carlos Jayme		–	0.11	23.26	49.88 (5)	2:28.28 (4)
Anchor	–	Edvaldo Valério		–	0.24	23.69	49.12 (4)	– (–)
4	–	Germany	GER	3:17.77	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Torsten Spanneberg		–	0.85	23.82	49.63 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Christian Tröger		–	0.03	22.93	49.06 (5)	1:38.69 (=5)
3rd Leg	–	Stephan Kunzelmann		–	0.10	23.31	50.20 (7)	2:28.89 (6)
Anchor	–	Stefan Herbst		–	0.03	23.54	48.88 (3)	– (–)
5	–	Italy	ITA	3:17.85	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Lorenzo Vismara		–	0.83	23.78	49.23 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Klaus Lanzarini		–	0.23	23.44	49.46 (6)	1:38.69 (=5)
3rd Leg	–	Massi Rosolino		–	0.42	24.29	49.70 (3)	2:28.39 (5)
Anchor	–	Simone Cercato		–	0.06	23.35	49.46 (5)	– (–)
6	–	Sweden	SWE	3:19.60	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Stefan Nystrand		–	0.78	24.13	50.06 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Lars Frölander		–	0.03	22.66	48.12 (1)	1:38.18 (3)
3rd Leg	–	Mattias Ohlin		–	0.16	23.36	49.99 (6)	2:28.17 (3)
Anchor	–	Johan Nyström		–	0.16	23.78	51.43 (7)	– (–)
7	–	France	FRA	3:21.00	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Fréd Bousquet		–	0.84	24.85	50.88 (8)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Romain Barnier		–	0.21	23.67	49.68 (7)	1:40.56 (7)
3rd Leg	–	Hugo Viart		–	0.10	23.73	49.79 (4)	2:30.35 (7)
Anchor	–	Nicolas Kintz		–	0.18	24.07	50.65 (6)	– (–)
DQ	–	Russian Federation	RUS	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Andrey Kapralov		–	[0.89]	[24.36]	[50.44] ([7])	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Denis Pimankov		–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
3rd Leg	–	Aleksandr Popov		–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Anchor	–	Dmitry Chernyshov		–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)