a medal in an individual backstroke event since David Theile in 1960. In the 4 × 200 m freestyle relay, he combined with Tonelli, Graeme Brewer and Ron McKeon as Australia came seventh after qualifying fourth. The Australians were sixth at the halfway point when Kerry jumped in for the third leg. Kerry moved Australia into fifth by the end of his leg, just 0.78 s from the bronze medal position, after posting a split time of 1 m 52.64 s, the 18th fastest split in the race. However, McKeon could not keep pace with the opposition anchor swimmers, and Australia finished seventh, 1.52 s outside the medals. Relay victory The 4 × 100 m medley relay was the focal point of Kerry's Moscow campaign. The event had always been won by the United States since its inception at Olympic level in 1960, and their boycott had opened up the field in the event. In the five times the event had been contested, Australia's best result was a silver in the inaugural race. A bronze in 1964 was the only other medal success and the 1976 edition of the medley relay had seen Australia eliminated in the heats. This time, Australia was regarded as a medal chance, but was not seen as the main threats—Sweden, Great Britain and the Soviet Union were seen as the most likely winners. The host's team included the silver medallists in the 100 m backstroke and breaststroke, and their butterflyer had come fifth; their freestyler would later place fourth. The British had 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. Australia's team paled in comparison on paper. Neil Brooks, the freestyler, later came 14th overall after having an asthma attack, and Peter Evans was the only individual medallist in the corresponding individual event. Kerry had been eliminated in the backstroke semifinals, while Tonelli was swimming as a makeshift butterflyer, despite having performed better than Kerry in the 100 m backstroke. Adding to the pressure was the fact that Australia won no gold medals at the 1976 Olympics in any sport, and were yet to win in Moscow, so the public were still awaiting their first victory since Munich in 1972. Coming into the Olympics, Australia were ranked seventh out of the thirteen competing countries. Australia's prospects