- 13 minutes ago
Australia’s greatest relay upset began with a team the United States had never lost to in the men’s 4x100 meter freestyle relay. For seven straight Olympics, America owned the event, but Sydney 2000 turned into the night that changed everything, with Ian Thorpe, Michael Klim, and Gary Hall Jr. at the center of a race built on pride, pressure, and one very famous quote.
This sports history story follows the rise, fall, and comeback of America’s greatest swim team across Sydney, Athens, and Beijing. From Hall’s “smash the Australians like guitars” remark to Thorpe’s dramatic finish, South Africa’s surprise gold in 2004, and Jason Lezak’s legendary anchor leg in 2008, the relay became a symbol of shifting dominance in Olympic swimming. It is part rivalry documentary, part narrated sports history, and part underdog comeback tale.
Along the way, the video also explores world records, Olympic pressure, and the tactics that can decide a race by hundredths of a second, including drafting in the water and the importance of relay order. It is a strong pick for fans of Olympic swimming, sports documentaries, competitive history, and narrated sports stories.
Ideal for viewers searching for Olympic relay history, men’s 4x100 freestyle relay, Australia vs USA swimming, Michael Phelps era stories, and sports history documentary narration. Great for anyone who enjoys detailed sports storytelling, Olympic comeback stories, and famous moments in swimming history.
This sports history story follows the rise, fall, and comeback of America’s greatest swim team across Sydney, Athens, and Beijing. From Hall’s “smash the Australians like guitars” remark to Thorpe’s dramatic finish, South Africa’s surprise gold in 2004, and Jason Lezak’s legendary anchor leg in 2008, the relay became a symbol of shifting dominance in Olympic swimming. It is part rivalry documentary, part narrated sports history, and part underdog comeback tale.
Along the way, the video also explores world records, Olympic pressure, and the tactics that can decide a race by hundredths of a second, including drafting in the water and the importance of relay order. It is a strong pick for fans of Olympic swimming, sports documentaries, competitive history, and narrated sports stories.
Ideal for viewers searching for Olympic relay history, men’s 4x100 freestyle relay, Australia vs USA swimming, Michael Phelps era stories, and sports history documentary narration. Great for anyone who enjoys detailed sports storytelling, Olympic comeback stories, and famous moments in swimming history.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00No country had ever beaten the U.S. in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay.
00:05Ever since the event was introduced in 1964, the U.S. were completely untouchable.
00:10Year after year, decade after decade, for seven Olympics in a row, the U.S. won gold.
00:16And with the fastest swimmers in the world on their team, the U.S. also continuously destroyed their own world
00:22records,
00:22leaving all the other nations vying for silver.
00:25However, when the Olympics came down under to Sydney in 2000, Australia had somehow got it into their heads that
00:32they actually had a chance at winning the event.
00:35Australia hadn't even made it onto the podium in the previous Olympics.
00:38So for the Aussies to suddenly start thinking that they could actually upset the U.S. stranglehold, it was a
00:44little strange.
00:45But this collective delusion that seemed to have permeated the country wasn't just blind faith.
00:50The Australian relay team in 2000 was the strongest it had ever been, including two of the most dominant swimmers
00:56in the world at the time.
00:57Ian Thorpe, also known as the Thorpedo, and Michael Klim, who were both world record holders in other events, just
01:04not in the 100m freestyle.
01:05On top of that, just a year earlier at the 1999 Pan Pacific Championships, the Australian team managed to beat
01:12the U.S. team for the first time in history.
01:14However, at that championship, the U.S. team was missing one of their star swimmers.
01:19No Gary Hall Jr., though.
01:21Gary Hall Jr. was an incredible sprint swimmer at the time.
01:24He was the best in America, though he was also a bit of a showboat, often dressing in flamboyant boxing
01:29robes and shadow boxing before races, happily paying whatever fines he would get for wearing non-approved apparel.
01:36But as he took these antics to the world stage, his quintessential American confidence was perceived by the rest of
01:42the world as arrogance.
01:43And after Australia's first win, when a newspaper asked Gary whether he thought the Aussies could win the following year
01:49at the Olympics, Gary certainly didn't pull any punches, telling the paper that the American team would smash the Australians
01:56like guitars.
01:57Of course, the following day, that quote was on the front page of every newspaper in Australia.
02:02And as the Sydney 2000 Olympics kicked off and the freestyle relay approached, the country's eyes were on the Australian
02:09team to make Gary Hall Jr. eat his words.
02:12Early in the day, with the support of his home country, Ian Thorpe smashed out a gold medal and a
02:17world record in the solo 400 metres.
02:19So as the crowd anticipated the 4x100 relay, which was coming up just an hour later, the tension continued to
02:26build.
02:27But as the event arrived, the teams were announced and the Australian crowd waited, anticipating the torpedo to come out
02:33at any moment, he was nowhere to be seen.
02:36Ian, who was swimming in a full-body swimsuit for this Games, had pulled it down after his 400 metre
02:41win, and with it still being wet, he was struggling to put it back on.
02:45As he pulled it up, he began to hear it tear. As the Australian team was announced, he finally appeared.
02:52The US team still weren't worried. They figured that Ian would be exhausted after his earlier win, and with Gary
02:57Hall Jr. back in their team, they were still confident that this relay would be just like every other Olympics.
03:03The US first, and everyone else trickling in behind.
03:06But as Michael Klim from Australia swam the first leg, America started getting nervous.
03:11Michael surged ahead of all the other swimmers, and as he made it back to the blocks, he'd swam the
03:17first leg so fast that he'd broken the existing 100 metre freestyle world record.
03:22But as the race continued, the US gradually caught up, eating into Australia's lead, and as Ian Thorpe prepared for
03:28the final leg against Gary Hall Jr., he knew Australia was in trouble.
03:32Ian was fast, but he was better over longer distances. The 200 and 400 metre freestyle were his domain.
03:39Gary, on the other hand, was dominant in the shorter 50 and 100 metre freestyle.
03:43Ian figured he might be able to keep Gary off his tail if he started out ahead, and as he
03:47entered the pool, thanks to the strength of his team, he did start out with a lead.
03:51But as he neared the other end of the 50 metre pool, he witnessed firsthand how dominant Gary truly was
03:57over that length.
03:58Gary pulled out ahead, and the once optimistic Australian crowd went quiet.
04:02Ian felt like he was letting down the country.
04:05Gary's claim started rattling through his brain, taunting him. It was starting to ring true.
04:10Ian was getting smashed like a guitar.
04:12But after the turn, in the last 50 metres, as Ian lift his head with each breath, he fought to
04:17close the gap, and it was working.
04:19As Ian caught up with each stroke, his confidence returned.
04:22He could feel the noise in the crowd building.
04:25He knew it would be close, so in the final 10 metres, Ian stopped looking.
04:29He held his breath, put his head down, and he swam, until...
04:34The Australians have just broken the American stranglehold on this race.
04:40But Australia hadn't just won gold.
04:42They'd also smashed America's world record by nearly two seconds.
04:46The Sydney crowd exploded with support, and just to rub salt in the wound,
04:51the Aussie team stood at the end of the pool, staring at Gary Hall Jr., and started strumming their air
04:56guitars.
04:57Gary Hall Jr. didn't return to the event after this moment, instead choosing to focus all of his energy on
05:02the 50 metre freestyle.
05:04Four years later, at Athens in 2004, the US team now had a chip on their shoulder,
05:09and they were eager to prove themselves in the event they once dominated.
05:13And with the addition of Michael Phelps to the team, things were looking bright once again for the Americans.
05:18After all, it was this Olympics that Michael Phelps became a household name,
05:22earning himself six gold medals and tying the world record for the most medals of any colour won in a
05:28single Olympics.
05:28But as the finals began, it quickly became obvious that the US dominance in the event was well and truly
05:34over.
05:35But this time, it wasn't the Australian team, but the South African team who blew everybody out of the water,
05:41winning gold and breaking the world record once again.
05:43And this time, the US couldn't even take home silver, after their anchor, Jason Lezak,
05:48was edged out right at the end of the race by the Dutch team.
05:52Four years flew by once again.
05:55And in the lead up to the 2008 Beijing Olympics, there were a few notable news stories in the American
06:00swimming world.
06:01Michael Phelps was gearing up to try and win a gold medal in every one of his eight events.
06:06Gary Hall Jr. had come out in the 50-metre US trials wearing a cape that claimed he was the
06:11godfather of swimming
06:12and then failed to qualify for the Olympics.
06:15But the story that really had people talking came from a voice outside of America,
06:19from an interview with the new 100-metre freestyle world record holder, France's Alain Bernard.
06:25In a claim oddly reminiscent of what Gary Hall had said eight years earlier,
06:29Alain boasted that the French team would smash the Americans in Beijing.
06:33So as the teams made their way to Beijing and the games kicked off,
06:36it quickly became clear that this year's 4x100 relay would be a battle destined for the history books.
06:42America's B-team sent shockwaves through the event when they beat South Africa's world record in the preliminaries.
06:48However, when both Australia and France's B-team also clocked in preliminary times faster than the previous world record,
06:55the stage was set for a final in the event like nobody had ever seen before.
07:00As the starting beep sounded, the three countries set off.
07:03By the end of the first 50 metres, Australia's newest swimming superstar,
07:07Amon Sullivan, had a clear lead over Michael Phelps,
07:10managing to continue pulling ahead all the way through to the end of the first leg,
07:15in which he managed to break the 100-metre freestyle world record again,
07:19stealing it from France's Alain Bernard.
07:21It was a mirror image of what Australia pulled off in 2000.
07:25The Americans in the crowd couldn't believe that it was happening to them all over again.
07:28However, as each team's second swimmers entered the pool, the Americans caught up and ended up leading through the second
07:35leg.
07:35Then, by the third, the Aussies started to fall away and it became a fight between France and the US.
07:41France pulled ahead and as the race came into its final leg,
07:44it was up to the French former world record holder Alain Bernard to finish the job and smash the US,
07:50just like he'd said they would.
07:51As Alain entered the pool, the US once again sent in Jason Lezak.
07:55At this point, Jason was no stranger to taking home the anchor leg of a relay.
07:59Through his career, he'd taken home gold for the US team in just about every medley relay,
08:04which is the one where every swimmer does a different stroke style.
08:07But after being beaten by the Dutch team at the Olympics in 2004,
08:10and also swimming before Gary Hall's devastating anchor leg in Jason's first Olympics in 2000,
08:16Jason was determined to do whatever he could,
08:18to reassert America's dominance and earn his first gold in the event.
08:22But as Alain Bernard pulled away from Jason through the first 50 metres,
08:26it was going to take a miracle for Jason to close the gap.
08:29The NBC commentators started to lose hope.
08:32I just don't think they can do it.
08:34The US team watched on devastated as Alain continued smashing them.
08:38Between each stroke, Jason was breathing on his right side,
08:41so he didn't even know that Alain was pulling further ahead until he hit the end of the pool.
08:45The United States trying to hang on a second.
08:47But as Jason completed his turn and was now able to see Alain pulling ahead of him,
08:53something quite remarkable started to unfold.
08:55He's trying to ride that wave as much as possible.
08:59After realizing that Alain Bernard was swimming right up against the lane line,
09:03Jason too stayed as close to the line as he could,
09:06hoping that he could take advantage of the slipstream created by Alain's wake.
09:10See, as swimmers push through the still water, breaking the water tension,
09:13the water behind the swimmer becomes easier to swim through.
09:16And if done strategically, the swimmers behind can use that dynamic to their advantage.
09:21And for Jason, it actually seemed like it was working.
09:26Alain and Jason were neck and neck right up until the last moment and then...
09:30Here comes Lezak! Unbelievable at the end! He's done it! The US has done it!
09:35The US reclaimed the gold, and they set yet another new world record for the 4x100 freestyle.
09:41Jason Lezak's split time has gone down in history as the fastest 100-meter freestyle split of all time.
09:47And with this win under his belt, Michael Phelps went on to successfully secure eight gold medals,
09:53setting the world record for the most golds won in a single Olympics.
09:56As for Alain Barnard and the French team?
09:58I think they need to use another word other than smash!
Comments