Union the most heavily fancied teams. The hosts' team included the silver medallists in the 100 m backstroke and breaststroke, and their butterflyer had come fifth; their freestyler would come fourth in his event. The British boasted Duncan Goodhew, the breaststroke gold medallist, while Sweden's butterflyer and backstroker had won their respective events and their freestyle swimmer would come second in the 100 m. On paper, Australia's team paled in comparison. Neil Brooks, the freestyler, would come fourteenth in the corresponding individual event after having an asthma attack, while Peter Evans was the only individual medallist in the distance, claiming bronze in the 100 m breaststroke. Kerry had been eliminated in the backstroke semifinals, while Tonelli was swimming as a makeshift butterflyer. Adding to the pressure was the fact that Australia won no gold medals at the 1976 Olympics in any sport, so the public were still awaiting their first victory since the 1972 Games in Munich. Coming into the Olympics, Australia were ranked seventh out of the thirteen competing countries. Australia's prospects improved after Sweden was disqualified in the morning heats. Tonelli, the eldest swimmer in the quartet at the age of 23, convened the team as its de facto leader. He asked his teammates to commit to swimming their legs in a certain time; Kerry vowed to complete 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, and they exhibited a calm self-belief as they lined up for the race. Kerry led off in a faster time than he had clocked in the individual event, but it was still two seconds slower than his personal best time of 57.87 s. This left Australia in fourth place at the end of the first leg. Evans then swam a personal best of 63.01 s, leaving Australia almost level with the host nation at the halfway mark. Tonelli then swam the butterfly leg in 54.94 s, almost two seconds faster his previous best over the distance. He did so with an uneven arm technique due to the unequal strength in his arms. Tonelli's butterfly leg would have been good enough for a silver medal if he had replicated it in the individual event. He