In our countdown of top 100 memories, we reach the top three, all events that transcend the single moment and represent the standout themes of the past decade in the sport of swimming (swimming being the operative word).
No 2: Sydney 2000, Act One, Scene One
And ... Action. It was electrifying from the moment we entered the pool at Homebush. If the preview days leading up to a week of sensational Olympic racing at the first eight-day swimming programme at the Games promised much, what unfolded in the first evening of finals was telling not only for the moment but set the tone and pace for the 7 fabulous days that followed and the decade as a whole.
It was the first Games at which bodysuits were worn since the pre-War era. Textile, sleek by design, they made a visible impact in the pool but nothing like the kind of impact on times across the board and deep through the world rankings as shiny suits made of non-textiles would do in 2008-09. There were 15 world records, a high tally in historic terms, and a third of what would unfold nine years later at world championships in Rome.
Top billing was given to the firing of the Thorpedo and the explosive success of the flying Dutch duo, Inge de Bruijn and Pieter van den Hoogenband, while the US came out well on top once more in a battle that left it nursing wounded pride but still able to celebrate its superpower status in the face of an Australian advance at home. The score was 14 gold and 33 medals overall for the Stars and Stripes; five gold and 18 medals overall for the Green and Goal shoal; and five gold for Hoogie and the born-again sprint diva lifting the Orange order to third on the medals table.
The first night was explosive and had writers from the wider world of sport waking up to the gladiatorial nature of a great sport. Day one finals witnessed five world records in four finals, led by a towering performance from Ian Thorpe, 17. As he rose to his blocks for the start of the 400m freestyle final, you could hear a pin drop and hairs standing on end on the necks of a 17,000 capacity crowd in the city of his birth. Thorpey did not disappoint: a jaw-dropping 3:40.59 world record was delivered in a fountain of fancy foot work down the last length that made the Australian teenager look as though he had an engine strapped to his back.
He was back in an hour later. Charged by the atmosphere and driven by challenging comments made by Gary Hall Jr. (USA) on the eve of the Games, the Australians were raedy to respond. Michael Klim gave the Dolphins a perfect start in the 4x100m freestyle in a world record of, 48.18sec, 0.03sec inside the standard that had stood to training partner Alexander Popov (RUS). The race was an AUS v USA heart-stopper: Klim v Anthony Ervin: 48.18 to 48.89; Chris Fydler v Neil Walker, 48.48 to 48.31; Ashley Callus v Jason Lezak, 48.71 to 48.42. Thorpe entered the water 0.25sec ahead of Hall. The American clocked a sizzling 22.47 down the first 50m, to Thorpe’s 23.34 and the USA had a 0.62sec lead. The unbeaten record of the USA, which had won every 4x100m freestyle title since 1964, looked safe - for a fleeting moment.
Stroke by stroke, giant kick by giant kick, Thorpe clawed his way back and as Hall started to pay the price for that early blast and the crowd rose to its feet in anticipation of the biggest upset of the Games, the advantage of the man who had put in the metres shone through. A 48.30 split for Thorpe gave the Dolphins the crown in a world record of 3:13.67, while Hall’s 48.24 took the USA inside the previous world mark by 1.25sec, for the silver in 3:13.86.
The Australians celebrated by playing air guitar on the pool deck, a gesture aimed at Hall, who had said that the USA would “smash the Aussies like guitars”. His comment had been made in competitive spirit. Hall Jnr was lambasted for it and much misquoted and misjudged, perhaps in part because of the reputation he had for showboating. What Hall Jnr actually said was far more gracious that the image reflected of him by the media at the time: “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 swum better than I did.”
At the end of a that sensational week of racing in which Hall had made history with Ervin by sharing the 50m freestyle title in 21.98sec, Hall paid a further gracious tribute to Australia: ''When faced with a worthy opponent, it forces you to get your act together and step up. We were able to use that threat of being dethroned as the best swimming nation as motivation to reach a level that otherwise we might not have reached.''
A fitting thought that links Thorpe with two of the other greats of the past decade and all-time, Pieter Van Den Hoogeband (NED) and Grant Hackett (AUS), among the few who provided real challenge to Thorpe and who knew victory over him in their careers.
When Thorpe, coached by Doug Frost, had done on that first night, waiting for him in the days that followed was Hoogie, coached by Jacco Verhaeren. In the 200m semi-final he threw down the gauntlet with a 1:45.35 world record, 0.16sec inside Thorpe’s global mark. A day later, Hoogie matched the time to deny Thorpe a third gold medal. The showdown had to be ticketed in the press seats, so great was the demand. The privileged who made it in witnessed a sporting spectacle of monumental excitement. I recall hacks who had in the past yawned at the notion of having been sent to the race pool bounding around the mixed zone with a fanatical look in their eye at the thought of filing copy on the show they had just withessed.
A day later, the Dutchman raced a generation ahead of fellow sprinters with the first sub-48sec 100m freestyle, a 47.84, in the semi-final. The final held the prospect of Popov becoming the first man in history to win the same title at thee successive Games. He fell 0.39sec shy, 48.30 for Van den Hoogenband to 48.69, in the first final to produce not only a top three inside 49sec but four men: Hall claimed bronze in 48.73 and Klim missed the podium by 0.01sec. Hoogie’s teammate De Bruijn, coached by Paul Bergen, also sped to three world records, though her efforts scooped three gold medals: 50m freestyle (24.32, after 24.13 in the semi-final), 100m freestyle (53.83, after 53.77 in the semi-final) - in both those finals ahead of Therese Alshammar (SWE) - and 100m butterfly (56.61).
Despite the inroads made by the rest of the world, including the medley double by Yana Klochkova (UKR) and Italy's first two Olympic champions, Domenico Fioravanti and Massimiliano Rosolino (ITA), the USA had a stellar meet, one that saw more than half its squad set personal best times. That translated to a world record for Tom Dolan, who defended the 400m medley crown in 4:11.76, and and Olympic record of 8:19.67 in the 800m freestyle for Brooke Bennett, who five days earlier had claimed the 400m freestyle crown in 4:05.80. Tom Malchow claimed the 200m butterfly crown (in a final that featured 15-year-old Michael Phelps, back in fifth) and Lenny Krayzelburg a backstroke double (see right), Megan Quann triumphed in the 100 breaststroke, while Misty Hyman’s defeat of defending 200m butterfly champion Susie O’Neill in 2:05.88, a 3.2sec improvement on her pre-Game best, was one of the biggest shocks of the Games. O’Neill, second, had already won the 200m freestyle in 1:58.24, the only home gold among women.
Beyond Thorpe, the only home male winner was Grant Hackett, coached by Denis Cotterell. Every lap of the fight between him and Kieren Perkins (defending 1,500m champion of 1992 and 1996) was accompanied by a roar, not only in the pool but in every bar, restaurant and public space within eyeshot of a television screen across the land. Like Popov, Perkins was vying for an historic third win but fell shy by almost an identical relative margin: 14:48.33 for Hackett to 14:53.59 for Perkins. That equated to a 0.35sec gap per 100m, compared to the 0.39sec by which Popov had fallen shy of Van den Hoogenband. Chris Thompson (USA) ensured the first sub-15-minute podium, with a 14:56.81 American record.
A thrilling eight days of races ended as so may had done over so many years: with American medley relays setting world records: B. J. Bedford, Megan Quann, Jenny Thompson and Dara Torres axed 3.37sec off the 1994 global mark set by China to become the first quartet to break 4 minutes, in 3:58.30 (Australia were also inside the old world mark in 4:01.59); and Lenny Krayzelburg, Ed Moses, Ian Crocker and Gary Hall Jr. improved the USA’s 1996 mark, in 3:33.73.
The standards set by Thorpe and Hackett (whose arrival in international waters represented a gear shift for the sport), and Hoogie and De Bruijn in the early year(s) of the decade set enduring challenges for the whole of the swimming world, challenges that in textile suits remain to this day (yes, the profile apes 1996, not 2000, but then science and progress being what they are, the dangers of covering the skin today are far greater than they were 10 years ago). And, of course, worth noting that a 15-year-old called Michael Phelps was there to witness the whole thing unfold before his eyes. For inspiration, it could hardly have been a better showcase for a man who would go on to become the greatest Olympian of all-time.
Here's more on Thorpe, Hoogie and Hackett at the time of their retirements:
- Thorpe
- Thorpe retires.
- Thorpe on Thorpe.
- Tributes.
- Thorpe's retirement speech.
- Place in the pantheon.
- Impact.
- How Thorpe came to his decision.
- It's official - retirement papers submitted.
- Van den Hoogenband
- Hail Pieter the Great.
- Hackett
- Hackett Calls Time On Stellar Career.
Hackett and Hoogie retired after Beijing 2008, while Thorpe moved on to pastures new in late 2006.
THE TOP 100 MEMORIES:
Part I: 91 - 100, the year 2000.
Part II: 81 - 90, the year 2001.
Part III: 71 - 80, the year 2002.
Part IV: 61 - 70, the year 2003.
Part V: 51 - 60, the year 2004.
Part VI: 41 - 50, the year 2005.
Part VII: 31 - 40, the year 2006.
Part VIII: 21 - 30, the year 2007.
Part IX: 11 - 19, the years 2008-09.
Part X: No 10 - the best 20 swimmers of the decade
Part X: No 9 - the top 10 nations
Part X: No 7 - players and contributors
Part X: No 6 - coaching influence
