Quietly Confident Quartet
Encyclopedia
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
. The United States boycotted the Moscow Olympics in protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Australian victory remains the only occasion the United States has not won the event at Olympic level since its inception in 1960. The quartet consisted of backstroker Mark Kerry
, breaststroke
r Peter Evans
, butterflyer Mark Tonelli
and freestyler
Neil Brooks
. The team was nominally led by its oldest member Tonelli, who was 23 and was also a spokesperson for the Australian athletes' campaign for their right to compete at the Olympics against the wishes of the Government of Australia
. The team was seen as an unlikely prospect to win; all four of the swimmers had clashed with swimming authorities over disciplinary issues and three experienced suspension or expulsion from the Australian team during their career.
Australia had previously won medals in the event, but was not regarded as one of the favourites for the gold, as the Soviet Union
, Great Britain
and Sweden
all fielded more decorated swimmers over the component legs of the relay. After the backstroke leg, Australia was in fourth place and more than a second in arrears of the Soviet leaders. However, Evans was the fastest among the breaststrokers to move the team into second position at the halfway point in the race, and Tonelli, a makeshift butterflyer, completed his leg in a time much faster than his previous best, allowing Australia to keep the Soviet lead reasonable. Australia's anchor swimmer Brooks overtook his more credentialled Soviet counterpart Sergey Kopliakov
in the latter half of the final leg to secure a narrow victory. The quartet disbanded after the Olympics due to the retirement of Tonelli, although some of the members continued to be present in the relay team at various times alongside new swimmers. By 1986, all four members of the 1980 team had retired from international competition.
was the oldest at the age of 23, followed by Mark Kerry
, who turned 21 a month after the Olympics. Both were attending their second Olympics, while Peter Evans
and Neil Brooks
were 18 and 17 respectively and had never represented Australia at the Commonwealth
, World Championship or Olympic level. Evans and Brooks were from Western Australia
, a state that had never been prominent in Australian swimming. The team members had some contact prior to their Olympic selection; Brooks' family had billeted Tonelli in 1976 when the Australian Olympic team held a training camp in Perth
. Brooks cited his experience with Tonelli as a motivating factor in his career.
The quartet was also marked by rebellious and anti-establishment tendencies. Tonelli and Kerry were expelled from the 1978 Commonwealth Games
team by the Australian Swimming Union
for violating a curfew during a training camp in Hawaii
before the team's trip to Edmonton
, Canada for the competition; Tonelli had been out drinking and admitted to smoking marijuana, which was not illegal in Hawaii, while Kerry had been courting a female. In 1980 during the lead up to the selection of the Olympic team, Brooks walked out of a training camp, alleging that the coaches were neglecting him, while Evans once stopped during a training session and refused to do extra mileage, emphatically proclaiming that "work is a poor substitute for talent". Later in their careers, Evans and Brooks continued to have their clashes with swimming officialdom; Evans over his coaches' demands for more training mileage and Brooks over swimmers' rights. Brooks was later suspended twice in his career for his clashes with swimming authorities, and expelled from the Australian Institute of Sport
for indiscipline.
The rebel qualities of the group were on show in the lead up to the Olympics. An obstacle arose with the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which resulted in a boycott of the Games by a large part of the Western world, led by the United States. The Australian Prime Minister
Malcolm Fraser
was also the patron of the Australian Olympic Committee
, and he and sections of the public put significant political pressure on the athletes to join the boycott. Tonelli realised that only the sportspeople would suffer from a boycott and that trade relations would continue unabated. He took a leadership role among the athletes, fighting for their right to compete and publicising their cause to the Australian community. Evans was fully supportive of Tonelli's campaign, reflecting that "We were political tools, and the only ones to suffer would be us." He rhetorically asked: "Do you really think that if we didn't go someone would come up to us after the Games and pat us on the back for not going?"
Kerry was equally adamant that he was going to compete, unlike some swimmers who decided to make personal boycotts. He received offers from Australian officials to not compete in return for financial payments. He said
According to women's swimming captain Lisa Forrest
, Tonelli adopted populist tactics in championing the athletes' cause. He said that Fraser was sending "wheat to feed the Russian army, wool to clothe the army and Australian metal to make Russian guns", claiming that this contradicted the proposed protest against the invasion and Russian military aggression. Tonelli's anti-authoritarian and individualistic style manifested itself during media appearances, including a news interview in which he debated with Reverend Lance Shilton, who had called the athletes traitors. Shilton expressed sympathy for the athletes, which Tonelli interpreted as condescension. He responded by rolling his eyes and twirling his finger, a gaffe that was broadcast on national television; Tonelli mistakenly thought that only his voice was being shown at the time and that the images were showing something else. Forrest said that "the damage was done—one of our most prominent anti-boycott lobbyists ... looked like a smart alec".
with comfortable margins. The closest winning buffer was 2.6 seconds and in 1972
and 1976
they had won by 4.10 and 3.72 s respectively; their boycott opened up the field in the event. In the five previous times the event had been contested, Australia's best result had come in the inaugural race in Rome
, where the team of David Theile
, Terry Gathercole
, Neville Hayes
and Geoff Shipton
out-touched Japan to claim silver. The only other time that Australia had won a medal was in Tokyo
in 1964
, when Peter Reynolds
, Ian O'Brien
, Kevin Berry
and David Dickson
finished behind the United States and Germany. The following two Games saw a fourth placing and an elimination in the heats. The previous outing in 1976 in Montreal
had seen Australia come sixth. Kerry was the only veteran of the 1976 relay team who returned to the Olympics in Moscow.
Australia was regarded by swimming analysts as a medal chance, but were not seen as the main threats—Sweden
, Great Britain
and the Soviet Union
were the most heavily fancied teams. The hosts had the silver medallists in the 100 m backstroke and breaststroke, Viktor Kuznetsov
and Arsen Miskarov respectively, and their butterflyer Yevgeny Seredin had come fifth in his 100 m event. Their freestyler Sergey Kopliakov
later came fourth in the corresponding 100 m event. The British boasted Duncan Goodhew
, the 100 m breaststroke gold medallist, and Gary Abraham
, who had placed fifth in the 100 m backstroke. Sweden's butterflyer Pär Arvidsson
and backstroker Bengt Baron
had won their respective 100 m events and their freestyle swimmer Per Holmertz
would win silver in the 100 m a few days later. Their weakest swimmer was the breaststroker Peter Berggren
, who came ninth in the 100 m. On paper, Australia's team paled in comparison. Brooks later came seventh in his 100 m freestyle semifinal and 14th overall after having an asthma attack, and Evans was Australia's only medallist in the corresponding individual event, winning bronze in the breaststroke. Kerry had been eliminated in the 100 m backstroke semifinals, while Tonelli was the Australian champion in the 100 m freestyle and backstroke but was swimming as a makeshift butterflyer; the nation did not have an entrant in the 100 m butterfly. Adding to the pressure was Australia's failure to win any gold medals in any sport at the 1976 Olympics. This meant that the public were still awaiting their first gold since the 1972 Summer Olympics
in Munich
. Coming into the Olympics, Australia was ranked seventh out of the thirteen competing countries.
swam 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 still qualified in second place overall, as they and the Soviets were more than 1.5 s faster than the third-placed Hungarians. In any case, despite resting all of their first-choice quartet, the home team were still faster than the Australians, who had fielded all but one of their full-strength team.
Evans brashly took the opportunity to attempt to regain the psychological ascendancy from Goodhew, confronting him privately and stating that "we will win it", later reporting that the Briton was astounded by his posturing. The eldest swimmer in the quartet at the age of 23, Tonelli convened the team as its de facto leader. He asked his compatriots 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. Tonelli named the foursome the "Quietly Confident Quartet" because they exhibited a reserved self-belief 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 and placid, confident that they could perform in the water.
Patching was one of several backstrokers who had slipped on the starting area earlier in the meet, so Kerry decided to rub a sticky red substance onto the soles of his feet. The Soviet organisers had provided a carpet following the incidents, resulting in Kerry leaving red footprints in the stadium. Kerry led off in a time faster than his effort in the individual event, but it was still two seconds slower than his personal best. He finished his leg in 57.87 s, leaving Australia in fourth place. Kuznetsov gave the Soviets the lead after posting a time of 56.81 s, with Hungary
and Great Britain in second and third place. France was the last to reach the 100 m mark, recording 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 four leading teams had broken away, leaving 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 his previous best over the distance. He began to lose ground in the last 50 m and was a bodylength behind Seredin until a late surge brought him to within a metre by the time the swimmers touched the wall. If Tonelli had replicated his relay leg 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 executed 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 again pulled away 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 swiftest freestyle split in the relay, faster than that of the individual 100 m freestyle gold medallist, Jörg Woithe
of East Germany.
The time of 3 m 45.70 s sealed Australia's first win in a medley relay at the Olympics, for men or women. It remains the only time that the United States has not won the men's event. The team made a celebratory dive into the water and did 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". Forrest hailed the win as "a gold medal that should never have been".
confirmed at the following day's press conference that the quartet had not received a message from Fraser. Australian journalists soon bombarded Fraser's office with phone calls asking why he had not applauded the athletes. Various members of the government recommended that Fraser congratulate the swimmers, but the prime minister baulked. When questioned in a radio interview, he said "I hope that circumstances do not arise over the next few years which will cause them to have very great regrets about the fact that they've gone". Fraser relented and late in the night, his office sent a telegram. However, he would not send his message directly to the Olympic village, so the telegram was sent to the Australian Embassy in Moscow. Fraser had ordered the Australian diplomatic mission to close its doors to the Olympians, so the embassy staff had to pass the envelopes containing the message through the fence to Australian Olympic officials. Fraser's telegram said:
Coles reported that the relay squad tore up the prime minister's message.
in Brisbane
, but his abbreviated preparation before the selection trials was not enough and he was defeated by other swimmers. This left Evans and Brooks as the only members of the 1980 team to participate in Australia's medley relay victory at the Commonwealth Games. In 1984, Kerry secured a recall to the team as Australia's preferred backstroker, while Brooks was surpassed by Mark Stockwell
as the leading freestyler. Australia came third in the 1984 Summer Olympics
in the medley relay as the Americans returned to the Olympic fold; Evans and Kerry swam in the final, while Brooks did the freestyle leg in the heats. Evans and Kerry retired after the Olympics, and Brooks was not the first-choice swimmer in 1986, meaning that a totally different quartet competed in the medley relay at the 1986 Commonwealth Games
in Edinburgh
. Brooks was suspended for drunken behaviour on the flight back to Australia, and then retired, and all four members of the Quietly Confident Quartet had departed the Australian swimming scene.
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...
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...
. The United States boycotted the Moscow Olympics in protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the Australian victory remains the only occasion the United States has not won the event at Olympic level since its inception in 1960. The quartet consisted 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...
, breaststroke
Breaststroke
The breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on his or her chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to its stability and the ability to keep the head out of the water a large portion of the time. In most swimming classes, beginners learn...
r 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
Freestyle swimming
Freestyle is an unregulated swimming style used in swimming competitions according to the rules of FINA. The front crawl stroke is almost universally used during a freestyle race, as this style is generally the fastest...
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 team was nominally led by its oldest member Tonelli, who was 23 and was also a spokesperson for the Australian athletes' campaign for their right to compete at the Olympics against the wishes of the Government of Australia
Government of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...
. The team was seen as an unlikely prospect to win; all four of the swimmers had clashed with swimming authorities over disciplinary issues and three experienced suspension or expulsion from the Australian team during their career.
Australia had previously won medals in the event, but was not regarded as one of the favourites for the gold, as 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....
all fielded more decorated swimmers over the component legs of the relay. After the backstroke leg, Australia was in fourth place and more than a second in arrears of the Soviet leaders. However, Evans was the fastest among the breaststrokers to move the team into second position at the halfway point in the race, and Tonelli, a makeshift butterflyer, completed his leg in a time much faster than his previous best, allowing Australia to keep the Soviet lead reasonable. Australia's anchor swimmer Brooks overtook his more credentialled Soviet counterpart 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...
in the latter half of the final leg to secure a narrow victory. The quartet disbanded after the Olympics due to the retirement of Tonelli, although some of the members continued to be present in the relay team at various times alongside new swimmers. By 1986, all four members of the 1980 team had retired from international competition.
Personnel
The Australian team for the event was a young and inexperienced foursome. Mark TonelliMark 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 the oldest at the age of 23, followed by 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...
, who turned 21 a month after the Olympics. Both were attending their second Olympics, while 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...
and 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...
were 18 and 17 respectively and had never represented Australia at the Commonwealth
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....
, World Championship or Olympic level. Evans and Brooks were from Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, a state that had never been prominent in Australian swimming. The team members had some contact prior to their Olympic selection; Brooks' family had billeted Tonelli in 1976 when the Australian Olympic team held a training camp in Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
. Brooks cited his experience with Tonelli as a motivating factor in his career.
1978 Commonwealth Games
The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, from 3 to 12 August 1978, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics were held in Montreal, Quebec...
team by the Australian Swimming Union
Swimming Australia
Swimming Australia is the peak governing body for competitive swimming in Australia. The body currently has approximately 90,000 registered members nationally in 1100 clubs across the country, which includes swimmers, coaches, officials, administrators and volunteers...
for violating a curfew during a training camp in Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
before the team's trip to Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
, Canada for the competition; Tonelli had been out drinking and admitted to smoking marijuana, which was not illegal in Hawaii, while Kerry had been courting a female. In 1980 during the lead up to the selection of the Olympic team, Brooks walked out of a training camp, alleging that the coaches were neglecting him, while Evans once stopped during a training session and refused to do extra mileage, emphatically proclaiming that "work is a poor substitute for talent". Later in their careers, Evans and Brooks continued to have their clashes with swimming officialdom; Evans over his coaches' demands for more training mileage and Brooks over swimmers' rights. Brooks was later suspended twice in his career for his clashes with swimming authorities, and expelled from the Australian Institute of Sport
Australian Institute of Sport
The Australian Institute of Sport is a sports training institution in Australia with world class facilities and support services. The Institute's headquarters is situated in Canberra, the capital city of Australia. The 66.0 hectare site campus is in the northern suburb of Bruce, but some of the...
for indiscipline.
The rebel qualities of the group were on show in the lead up to the Olympics. An obstacle arose with the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, which resulted in a boycott of the Games by a large part of the Western world, led by the United States. The Australian Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
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...
was also the patron of the Australian Olympic Committee
Australian Olympic Committee
The Australian Olympic Committee is the National Olympic Committee in Australia for the Olympic Games movement. It is a non-profit organisation that selects teams, and raises funds to send Australian competitors to Olympic events organised by the International Olympic Committee .-Background:The...
, and he and sections of the public put significant political pressure on the athletes to join the boycott. Tonelli realised that only the sportspeople would suffer from a boycott and that trade relations would continue unabated. He took a leadership role among the athletes, fighting for their right to compete and publicising their cause to the Australian community. Evans was fully supportive of Tonelli's campaign, reflecting that "We were political tools, and the only ones to suffer would be us." He rhetorically asked: "Do you really think that if we didn't go someone would come up to us after the Games and pat us on the back for not going?"
Kerry was equally adamant that he was going to compete, unlike some swimmers who decided to make personal boycotts. He received offers from Australian officials to not compete in return for financial payments. He said
According to women's swimming captain Lisa Forrest
Lisa 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:...
, Tonelli adopted populist tactics in championing the athletes' cause. He said that Fraser was sending "wheat to feed the Russian army, wool to clothe the army and Australian metal to make Russian guns", claiming that this contradicted the proposed protest against the invasion and Russian military aggression. Tonelli's anti-authoritarian and individualistic style manifested itself during media appearances, including a news interview in which he debated with Reverend Lance Shilton, who had called the athletes traitors. Shilton expressed sympathy for the athletes, which Tonelli interpreted as condescension. He responded by rolling his eyes and twirling his finger, a gaffe that was broadcast on national television; Tonelli mistakenly thought that only his voice was being shown at the time and that the images were showing something else. Forrest said that "the damage was done—one of our most prominent anti-boycott lobbyists ... looked like a smart alec".
Event history and expectations
The United States had always won the 4 × 100 m medley relay since the event's inception at the Olympics in 1960Swimming at the 1960 Summer Olympics
At the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, 15 swimming events were contested, eight for men and seven for women. There was a total of 380 participants from 45 countries competing. For the first time, the 4×100 metres medley relay was contested...
with comfortable margins. The closest winning buffer was 2.6 seconds and in 1972
Swimming at the 1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics were held in Munich, West Germany, 29 events in swimming were contested. There was a total of 532 participants from 52 countries competing....
and 1976
Swimming at the 1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics were held in Munich, West Germany, 29 events in swimming were contested. There was a total of 532 participants from 52 countries competing....
they had won by 4.10 and 3.72 s respectively; their boycott opened up the field in the event. In the five previous times the event had been contested, Australia's best result had come 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...
, where the team of David Theile
David Theile
David Egmont Theile , was an Australian backstroke swimmer of the 1950s and 1960s, who won consecutive gold medals in the 100 m backstroke at the 1956 and 1960 Summer Olympics, the only Australian to do so...
, Terry Gathercole
Terry Gathercole
Terrence Stephen Gathercole OAM , was an Australian breaststroke swimmer of the 1950s and 1960s, who won a silver medal in the 4x100m medley relay at the 1960 Rome Olympics...
, Neville Hayes
Neville Hayes
Neville Hayes was an Australian butterfly swimmer of the 1960s, who won two silver medals at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, in the 200m butterfly and the 4x100m medley relay....
and Geoff Shipton
Geoff Shipton
Geoffrey Shipton was an Australian sprint freestyle swimmer of the 1950s and 1960s, who won a silver medal in the 4x100m medley relay at the 1960 Rome Olympics....
out-touched Japan to claim silver. The only other time that Australia had won a medal was 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
1964 Summer Olympics
The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's...
, when Peter Reynolds
Peter Reynolds
Peter Askin Reynolds was an Australian freestyle and medley swimmer of the 1960s, who won a bronze medal in the 4x100m medley relay at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo...
, Ian O'Brien
Ian O'Brien
Ian Lovett O'Brien is a former Australian breaststroke swimmer of the 1960s, who won the 200 metre breaststroke at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in world record time...
, Kevin Berry
Kevin Berry
Kevin John Berry OAM was an Australian butterfly swimmer of the 1960s who won the gold medal in the 200 m butterfly at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He set twelve world records in his career...
and David Dickson
David Dickson (swimmer)
David Dickson was an Australian freestyle swimmer of the 1960s, who won three bronze medals in freestyle and medley relay events at the 1960 Summer Olympics and the 1964 Summer Olympics in Rome and Tokyo respectively.-1960 Summer Olympics:Dickson was selected to make his international debut at...
finished behind the United States and Germany. The following two Games saw a fourth placing and an elimination in the heats. The previous outing in 1976 in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
had seen Australia come sixth. Kerry was the only veteran of the 1976 relay team who returned to the Olympics in Moscow.
Australia was regarded by swimming analysts as a medal chance, but were not seen as the main threats—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 fancied teams. The hosts had the silver medallists in the 100 m 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, and their butterflyer Yevgeny Seredin had come fifth in his 100 m event. Their 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...
later came fourth in the corresponding 100 m event. The British boasted 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...
, the 100 m breaststroke gold medallist, and 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....
, who had placed fifth in the 100 m backstroke. 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...
would win silver in the 100 m a few days later. Their weakest swimmer was 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:*...
, who came ninth in the 100 m. On paper, Australia's team paled in comparison. Brooks later came seventh in his 100 m freestyle semifinal and 14th overall after having an asthma attack, and Evans was Australia's only medallist in the corresponding individual event, winning bronze in the breaststroke. Kerry had been eliminated in the 100 m backstroke semifinals, while Tonelli was the Australian champion in the 100 m freestyle and backstroke but was swimming as a makeshift butterflyer; the nation did not have an entrant in the 100 m butterfly. Adding to the pressure was Australia's failure to win any gold medals in any sport at the 1976 Olympics. This meant that the public were still awaiting their first gold since the 1972 Summer Olympics
1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....
in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
. Coming into the Olympics, Australia was ranked seventh out of the thirteen competing countries.
Race
The medley relay was scheduled for Thursday, 24 July, the fifth day of swimming competition, with heats in the morning and the final in the evening. Australia's prospects improved when Sweden was disqualified in the first heat. Australia and the Soviet Union swam in the second heat. With their superior depth, the home team was able to rest their entire first-choice quartet in the heats. On the other hand, Australia was only willing to rest Kerry—Glenn PatchingGlenn 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:*...
swam 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 still qualified in second place overall, as they and the Soviets were more than 1.5 s faster than the third-placed Hungarians. In any case, despite resting all of their first-choice quartet, the home team were still faster than the Australians, who had fielded all but one of their full-strength team.
Evans brashly took the opportunity to attempt to regain the psychological ascendancy from Goodhew, confronting him privately and stating that "we will win it", later reporting that the Briton was astounded by his posturing. The eldest swimmer in the quartet at the age of 23, Tonelli convened the team as its de facto leader. He asked his compatriots 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. Tonelli named the foursome the "Quietly Confident Quartet" because they exhibited a reserved self-belief 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 and placid, confident that they could perform in the water.
Patching was one of several backstrokers who had slipped on the starting area earlier in the meet, so Kerry decided to rub a sticky red substance onto the soles of his feet. The Soviet organisers had provided a carpet following the incidents, resulting in Kerry leaving red footprints in the stadium. Kerry led off in a time faster than his effort in the individual event, but it was still two seconds slower than his personal best. He finished his leg in 57.87 s, leaving Australia in fourth place. Kuznetsov gave the Soviets the lead after posting a time of 56.81 s, with 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...
and Great Britain in second and third place. France was the last to reach the 100 m mark, recording 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 four leading teams had broken away, leaving 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 his previous best over the distance. He began to lose ground in the last 50 m and was a bodylength behind Seredin until a late surge brought him to within a metre by the time the swimmers touched the wall. If Tonelli had replicated his relay leg 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 executed 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 again pulled away 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 swiftest freestyle split in the relay, faster than that of 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.
The time of 3 m 45.70 s sealed Australia's first win in a medley relay at the Olympics, for men or women. It remains the only time that the United States has not won the men's event. The team made a celebratory dive into the water and did 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". Forrest hailed the win as "a gold medal that should never have been".
Government reaction
Relations between the Olympians and the Australian Government remained tense after months of political struggle regarding the boycott. A prime minister would customarily send a congratulatory message to Olympic medallists. However, the Australian Olympic chef de mission Phil ColesPhil Coles
Phil Coles is an Australian sprint canoer who competed in the 1960s. Competing in three Summer Olympics, he earned his best finish of ninth in the K-4 1000 m event at Tokyo in 1964.-References:*...
confirmed at the following day's press conference that the quartet had not received a message from Fraser. Australian journalists soon bombarded Fraser's office with phone calls asking why he had not applauded the athletes. Various members of the government recommended that Fraser congratulate the swimmers, but the prime minister baulked. When questioned in a radio interview, he said "I hope that circumstances do not arise over the next few years which will cause them to have very great regrets about the fact that they've gone". Fraser relented and late in the night, his office sent a telegram. However, he would not send his message directly to the Olympic village, so the telegram was sent to the Australian Embassy in Moscow. Fraser had ordered the Australian diplomatic mission to close its doors to the Olympians, so the embassy staff had to pass the envelopes containing the message through the fence to Australian Olympic officials. Fraser's telegram said:
Coles reported that the relay squad tore up the prime minister's message.
Aftermath
The quartet never competed as a unit after the Moscow Olympics. Tonelli retired immediately after the Games, while Kerry took an extended break. The backstroker attempted a comeback in the leadup to the 1982 Commonwealth Games1982 Commonwealth Games
The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia from 30 September–9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium , in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the venue which was used for the athletics and archery competitions during the...
in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, but his abbreviated preparation before the selection trials was not enough and he was defeated by other swimmers. This left Evans and Brooks as the only members of the 1980 team to participate in Australia's medley relay victory at the Commonwealth Games. In 1984, Kerry secured a recall to the team as Australia's preferred backstroker, while Brooks was surpassed by Mark Stockwell
Mark Stockwell
Marcus William "Mark" Stockwell is a former Australian sprint freestyle swimmer. Stockwell won three medals in freestyle swimming at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics....
as the leading freestyler. Australia came third in the 1984 Summer Olympics
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
in the medley relay as the Americans returned to the Olympic fold; Evans and Kerry swam in the final, while Brooks did the freestyle leg in the heats. Evans and Kerry retired after the Olympics, and Brooks was not the first-choice swimmer in 1986, meaning that a totally different quartet competed in the medley relay at the 1986 Commonwealth Games
1986 Commonwealth Games
The 1986 Commonwealth Games were held in Edinburgh, Scotland for the second time. The Games were held from 24 July-2 August 1986.-Organisation and Controversy:...
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. Brooks was suspended for drunken behaviour on the flight back to Australia, and then retired, and all four members of the Quietly Confident Quartet had departed the Australian swimming scene.