0:00:18 > 0:00:21The Beijing Olympics, 10th of August 2008.
0:00:21 > 0:00:24- COMMENTATOR:- It is the great Michael Phelps.
0:00:24 > 0:00:26He goes in four, Phelps in four.
0:00:26 > 0:00:31American Michael Phelps attempt to win his first eight gold medals
0:00:31 > 0:00:34in the 400 metres individual medley.
0:00:34 > 0:00:36A test of the complete swimmer.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39- COMMENTATOR:- And talk about in the zone. Look at this, Adrian,
0:00:39 > 0:00:41he is absolutely focused on what his job is.
0:00:41 > 0:00:43All four strokes in one event.
0:00:45 > 0:00:46Yet when the modern Olympics began,
0:00:46 > 0:00:50none of the strokes existed as we know them today.
0:00:53 > 0:00:56This race is the culmination of 100 years of history.
0:01:02 > 0:01:05Expect him to be comfortable but fast down this first hundred.
0:01:05 > 0:01:10The first leg for Phelps is the butterfly, the newest stroke.
0:01:10 > 0:01:13Invented when breaststroke was pushed to its limits.
0:01:15 > 0:01:19The ideal motion in butterfly is just being very streamlined,
0:01:19 > 0:01:20very, very fluent.
0:01:20 > 0:01:21It is hard!
0:01:21 > 0:01:24It requires so much energy.
0:01:24 > 0:01:26Leg two is the backstroke...
0:01:26 > 0:01:30- COMMENTATOR:- Half a second under his world record pace. A very quick...
0:01:30 > 0:01:32..which hasn't always looked so elegant.
0:01:32 > 0:01:37Early backstroke was a double arm over the water backstroke.
0:01:37 > 0:01:39The third legs are breast stroke...
0:01:39 > 0:01:41- COMMENTATOR:- Phelps is leading,
0:01:41 > 0:01:44Ryan Lochte, USA, is second. Let's see what's going to happen.
0:01:44 > 0:01:48..the slowest stroke - perfected by the British to go faster.
0:01:48 > 0:01:51When people say, "Oh, breaststroke is a namby-pamby stroke,"
0:01:51 > 0:01:52it probably does look namby-pamby
0:01:52 > 0:01:55but it's technically the hardest one to get right.
0:01:55 > 0:01:57The final leg is the freestyle...
0:01:57 > 0:02:01- COMMENTATOR:- Michael Phelps starting to stroke away from the field...
0:02:01 > 0:02:04..tuned to perfection by the best swimmers on earth.
0:02:04 > 0:02:08Pushed faster by their coaches and new technology.
0:02:08 > 0:02:10'We discovered that I had a lung capacity'
0:02:10 > 0:02:14over 40 or 50% larger than most people my size.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16- COMMENTATOR:- He's trying to set Olympic history,
0:02:16 > 0:02:18he's trying to set swimming history!
0:02:18 > 0:02:22In 2008 Phelps swam all four strokes to perfection
0:02:22 > 0:02:25and slashed the Olympic record by a massive five seconds.
0:02:26 > 0:02:30This is the story of how swimmers strove to go faster
0:02:30 > 0:02:34and changed their sport on stroke at a time.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52The search for new ways to swim fast
0:02:52 > 0:02:56started in a country with a small population but a big coastline -
0:02:56 > 0:02:57Australia.
0:02:57 > 0:03:0280 or 90% of our population live within about 10 or 11k of the ocean
0:03:02 > 0:03:05so you'd better swim otherwise you might, you're going to drown!
0:03:07 > 0:03:11It's here that the story begins, in Sydney's rock pools,
0:03:11 > 0:03:13built in the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18They are nestled into the coves, on the beaches,
0:03:18 > 0:03:21where the rocks create a natural safe swimming formation,
0:03:21 > 0:03:23where aboriginal indigenous people swam.
0:03:23 > 0:03:28Settlers found these pools, they extended them, created walls.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30In these early pools Australians would compete,
0:03:30 > 0:03:35swimming the breaststroke or sidestroke and not terribly fast.
0:03:42 > 0:03:46In 1898, in Sydney's Bronte Baths, something happened
0:03:46 > 0:03:49that changed the whole course of competitive swimming.
0:03:51 > 0:03:56A young Solomon Islander called Alec Wickham entered a race
0:03:56 > 0:03:58and swam like no-one had swum before.
0:04:03 > 0:04:05The defining features of Wickham's stroke
0:04:05 > 0:04:08was that he actually look like he crawled over the water.
0:04:09 > 0:04:13He used his arms in an action that we're familiar with today
0:04:13 > 0:04:14in freestyle swimming.
0:04:16 > 0:04:17This stroke was brand-new.
0:04:18 > 0:04:22Arms whirling and feet thrashing,
0:04:22 > 0:04:25it was forged in the powerful seas of the South Pacific.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29It started winning him races in Australia...
0:04:29 > 0:04:33was quickly copied and named the Australian crawl.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37The real innovation of the Australian crawl
0:04:37 > 0:04:40was that it streamlined the body's actions -
0:04:40 > 0:04:43minimised the whole resistance of the body
0:04:43 > 0:04:45and pushed all the propulsion forward,
0:04:45 > 0:04:47in the direction that you want to go.
0:04:48 > 0:04:52Alec Wickham proved to many people that as much as a stroke looked crazy
0:04:52 > 0:04:57and was extremely demanding, it was exceptionally fast.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02Soon everyone was doing it.
0:05:02 > 0:05:07In 1912 two young women from Sydney, Fanny Durack and Mina Wylie,
0:05:07 > 0:05:10made the 11,000 mile journey to Stockholm
0:05:10 > 0:05:12to compete in the Olympics Games.
0:05:21 > 0:05:23The pool was 100 metres long
0:05:23 > 0:05:27and constructed in a waterway open to the sea.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30The water was a chilly 15 degrees.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35Here freestyle meant any stoke you liked.
0:05:36 > 0:05:38Some used the breaststroke, or sidestroke...
0:05:41 > 0:05:44..but in the 100 metres freestyle sprint
0:05:44 > 0:05:46Fanny Durack proved there was only one stroke worth using...
0:05:48 > 0:05:50..the Australian crawl.
0:05:50 > 0:05:54Well, the 1912 games in Stockholm were an eye-opener for Fanny Durack.
0:05:54 > 0:05:57It was dirty, it was mucky, there were no lines,
0:05:57 > 0:06:01there was no lane ropes, there was no way to guide yourself where you swam.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03So, it was really guessing where your arms were
0:06:03 > 0:06:05and Fanny Durack found it difficult.
0:06:05 > 0:06:07Towards the finish she hit the side wall
0:06:07 > 0:06:09before she actually completed the race.
0:06:09 > 0:06:12With her revolutionary stroke,
0:06:12 > 0:06:16Durack swam 100 metres faster than any woman had done before.
0:06:16 > 0:06:21In one minutes 22 seconds. Wylie took silver.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27But someone else was making bigger waves in Stockholm
0:06:27 > 0:06:30with his own version of the front crawl.
0:06:33 > 0:06:34Like Alec Wickham,
0:06:34 > 0:06:38this man brought his stroke from the islands of the South Pacific
0:06:38 > 0:06:40but he swam for America.
0:06:42 > 0:06:47Duke Kahanamoku was a surfing pinup from Hawaii with hands like shovels.
0:06:47 > 0:06:48GIRLS GIGGLING
0:06:51 > 0:06:53Nobody had seen anything like him.
0:06:53 > 0:06:54He has a beautiful stroke,
0:06:54 > 0:06:57a stroke that was forged in the waters and in the waves.
0:06:57 > 0:06:59Everything is efficient about it.
0:07:02 > 0:07:04Not only that, he came with an incredible amount of graciousness
0:07:04 > 0:07:07and a smile every time he gets out of the water.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10This was a wonderful spirit inside the sport
0:07:10 > 0:07:13and the bottom line is you also couldn't beat him!
0:07:15 > 0:07:20When the Duke won gold in 1912 he became an instant star.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22His success propelling him to Hollywood,
0:07:22 > 0:07:26where he rubbed shoulders with legends like Charlie Chaplin.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29For the first time you could swim your way to celebrity.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34Hey, wait a minute, till I cut you a coupon!
0:07:34 > 0:07:39- I no ask for that, beautiful missy. A favour!- Thank you, Corporal!
0:07:41 > 0:07:42Hey...
0:07:42 > 0:07:44He may have been a swimming superstar
0:07:44 > 0:07:48but this was a dark-skinned man from another world.
0:07:48 > 0:07:50Hey, there! You! Come here!
0:07:50 > 0:07:51Yes, boss.
0:07:51 > 0:07:55When a black baboon like you carries bags for a white lady...
0:07:55 > 0:07:58America, at the time, wasn't ready for him.
0:07:58 > 0:08:00Yes...boss...
0:08:00 > 0:08:03The Duke may have smashed world records
0:08:03 > 0:08:05but some barriers could not be broken.
0:08:07 > 0:08:09For Middle America, he would quickly be supplanted
0:08:09 > 0:08:11by another swimming Olympian from closer to home
0:08:11 > 0:08:15and this one would get the girl.
0:08:16 > 0:08:18TARZAN HOLLERING
0:08:23 > 0:08:26Johnny Weissmuller found fame as Tarzan
0:08:26 > 0:08:30and that only after winning five Olympic gold medals.
0:08:32 > 0:08:33'He's blue-collar,'
0:08:33 > 0:08:36he's from Western Pennsylvania, the coalmining towns,
0:08:36 > 0:08:41and he epitomises what everybody is looking for in America at the time.
0:08:45 > 0:08:48In 1924 the Olympics were held in Paris.
0:08:48 > 0:08:5320-year-old Johnny Weissmuller came up against the reigning champion,
0:08:53 > 0:08:58the veteran Duke Kahanamoku, in the 100 metres freestyle final.
0:09:01 > 0:09:05The freestyle was now synonymous with front crawl
0:09:05 > 0:09:08but Weissmuller was one of the generation of sprinters
0:09:08 > 0:09:09who improved it.
0:09:09 > 0:09:13Rather than the arms, now the feet were the engine.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18'The legs are really, really important.'
0:09:18 > 0:09:21If you don't keep the body in the right position by a using your legs
0:09:21 > 0:09:24then you're dragging it through the water, which just will not work.
0:09:26 > 0:09:28Weissmuller's kick was so powerful
0:09:28 > 0:09:31his head and body rose out of the water.
0:09:31 > 0:09:36So, in Paris, the two were neck and neck at 50 metres...
0:09:36 > 0:09:39but Weissmuller had the technique to power ahead of the Duke
0:09:39 > 0:09:40to win gold.
0:09:40 > 0:09:46He was the first Olympian to swim 100 metres under the magic minute.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48'This roaring, amazing success'
0:09:48 > 0:09:51who sets over 60 world records in his career,
0:09:51 > 0:09:53who wins five Olympic gold medals,
0:09:53 > 0:09:56who is undefeated for years and years,
0:09:56 > 0:09:58and when he retires, retires as a champion.
0:10:02 > 0:10:08In ten years of competitive swimming Weissmuller never lost.
0:10:08 > 0:10:11His example spawned a succession of American sprinters
0:10:11 > 0:10:15who drilled down the 100 metres record throughout the '30s.
0:10:18 > 0:10:21Swimmers from Australia could only look on
0:10:21 > 0:10:25as the Aussie crawl was improved by their chief rivals.
0:10:28 > 0:10:32Australia were a very long way behind the Americans.
0:10:32 > 0:10:34In fact, much of the rest of the world.
0:10:34 > 0:10:40We'd done so badly in the 1930s that we had to do something about it.
0:10:41 > 0:10:46Australia finally had the chance to take the initiative in 1956
0:10:46 > 0:10:48when the Olympics came to Melbourne.
0:10:50 > 0:10:51In front of a home crowd
0:10:51 > 0:10:55and visiting swimming legend Duke Kahanamoku,
0:10:55 > 0:10:59Australia started reclaiming the freestyle for themselves.
0:10:59 > 0:11:02- COMMENTATOR:- His long, powerful strokes sent him to a magnificent win.
0:11:02 > 0:11:06Murray Rose in the 400 and 1,500 metres events
0:11:06 > 0:11:10and Jon Henricks in the 100 metre sprint both won gold.
0:11:10 > 0:11:12But it was in the women's competition
0:11:12 > 0:11:16that Australia would unleash a true swimming phenomenon.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20- COMMENTATOR:- The two Australian girls are in front
0:11:20 > 0:11:22and Fraser, in lane four, is slightly ahead.
0:11:22 > 0:11:2719-year-old Dawn Fraser was something quite new.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31She swam like a man and she had the upper body strength of a man.
0:11:31 > 0:11:36And she was tall, good solid frame, good-looking young lady.
0:11:36 > 0:11:41In the 100 metres final Fraser faced fellow Australian Lorraine Crapp.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43- COMMENTATOR:- Crapp in five, Fraser in four
0:11:43 > 0:11:45as they turn together, over they go...
0:11:45 > 0:11:48'It was the best race I've ever swum in my life.'
0:11:48 > 0:11:51Yeah, I saw Lorraine Crapp on my side and I thought,
0:11:51 > 0:11:55"Well, lady, I know I can beat you over the last 25 metres,"
0:11:55 > 0:11:59and I just put in my extra sprint at the end.
0:11:59 > 0:12:01- COMMENTATOR:- Fraser and Crapp, Fraser and Crapp!
0:12:01 > 0:12:05And it's to the line... And it'll be Fraser first!
0:12:05 > 0:12:07Lorraine Crapp was second, Faith Leech third.
0:12:07 > 0:12:08Australia one, two and three.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10'We were all teammates
0:12:10 > 0:12:12'and it was good to have all teammates up there,
0:12:12 > 0:12:13'one, two and three.'
0:12:16 > 0:12:18Fraser was Aussie through and through.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20She had a winner's mentality, was determined
0:12:20 > 0:12:22and contemptuous of authority.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25What Australians call a larrikin.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27I guess I am a larrikin!
0:12:27 > 0:12:30Erm, I enjoy life, speaking out my mind.
0:12:30 > 0:12:33I'm not afraid to say that I don't like something.
0:12:33 > 0:12:36I don't do anything that I don't want to do.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39After all, the swimming pool was my office
0:12:39 > 0:12:43and I'd like to be the boss in my office.
0:12:43 > 0:12:45You're in my environment.
0:12:45 > 0:12:48If you want to get that environment from me you have to beat me.
0:12:48 > 0:12:49- COMMENTATOR:- Fraser first, Crapp second,
0:12:49 > 0:12:52oh, the blanket finish for third!
0:12:52 > 0:12:55Fraser didn't just win gold, she broke the world record.
0:12:55 > 0:13:00Her time was 20 seconds faster than Fanny Durack's over 40 years before.
0:13:00 > 0:13:03There was a key difference, however.
0:13:03 > 0:13:07Olympic pools had halved in length to 50 metres.
0:13:07 > 0:13:11Now swimmers had the advantage of a push off at the turn.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14'Races are won or lost by a good turn or a bad turn.'
0:13:14 > 0:13:16If you can make up one 100th of a second
0:13:16 > 0:13:18that is sometimes the difference between winning and losing.
0:13:18 > 0:13:23Fraser used an American invention from the '30s...
0:13:23 > 0:13:24the tumble turn.
0:13:26 > 0:13:28The way you want to tumble turn and push off the wall
0:13:28 > 0:13:29is in a good squat position.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32Your legs don't want to be straight cos you can't push off
0:13:32 > 0:13:34and you don't want to be crunched up against the wall
0:13:34 > 0:13:35cos you get no power.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39But the new turn wasn't the only difference.
0:13:39 > 0:13:4440 years of improvement had seen freestyle evolve into a technique
0:13:44 > 0:13:46some saw as near-perfect.
0:13:48 > 0:13:52'Dawn Fraser had a wonderful technique.'
0:13:52 > 0:13:57She swam the pinnacle of good freestyle swimming.
0:13:57 > 0:14:02Her swimming was the model for the rest of the world.
0:14:05 > 0:14:07Unlike earlier freestylers,
0:14:07 > 0:14:11Fraser kept her face down and breathed out underwater.
0:14:11 > 0:14:15'So we tend to breath in what's called the bow wave.
0:14:15 > 0:14:17So, we create a bow wave with our heads,'
0:14:17 > 0:14:20so the water is here, so we're cutting through the water as best we can.
0:14:20 > 0:14:22Then on freestyle, for example, we'll turn our head
0:14:22 > 0:14:25and just, very slightly, breathe into the bow wave.
0:14:25 > 0:14:28Try and keep as streamlined as possible and not to break the stroke.
0:14:32 > 0:14:37Fraser's stroke was controlled, delicate, it in tune with the water.
0:14:37 > 0:14:40She had what swimmers call feel.
0:14:42 > 0:14:47'You get a feel for athletes and when you see a beginner'
0:14:47 > 0:14:49and they're doing this, no feel, right?
0:14:49 > 0:14:52Where somebody else can just jump in and feel the water.
0:14:52 > 0:14:54And Dawn had superior feel.
0:14:56 > 0:14:58'I fell in love with the water'
0:14:58 > 0:15:02and I had a very good feeling of the water within my fingertips.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05I think it's just the natural environment I was brought up in.
0:15:07 > 0:15:09'There's something in the water'
0:15:09 > 0:15:12that is very satisfying in getting it right.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14In the way that you move, in an effortless way,
0:15:14 > 0:15:17where the water feels like it's moving you.
0:15:18 > 0:15:21In some of the longer things I do I get into a state that,
0:15:21 > 0:15:24you know, is very close to meditating.
0:15:27 > 0:15:31It's a lovely feeling to have your fingertips touching the water
0:15:31 > 0:15:34and pulling your body through that water.
0:15:38 > 0:15:39Fraser's natural talent
0:15:39 > 0:15:42wasn't the only thing that brought home the gold in Melbourne.
0:15:42 > 0:15:45Something much bigger was going on.
0:15:45 > 0:15:48- COMMENTATOR:- These two Australians are well ahead , there's no doubt.
0:15:48 > 0:15:53Across-the-board Australia won eight out of 13 gold medals.
0:15:53 > 0:15:56- COMMENTATOR:- And again a win for Australia...
0:15:56 > 0:15:57This was unprecedented.
0:16:02 > 0:16:07The change in Australian fortunes hadn't been left to chance.
0:16:07 > 0:16:10It was orchestrated by a team of coaches
0:16:10 > 0:16:14who brought all the Olympic hopefuls together in one place.
0:16:16 > 0:16:17They were led by Forbes Carlile.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22'They had ideas about us training in Brisbane but it was too cold'
0:16:22 > 0:16:25so we said, "No, we don't want to train in Brisbane,
0:16:25 > 0:16:27"we want to go north."
0:16:27 > 0:16:30So we went up to Townsville, almost in the tropics.
0:16:31 > 0:16:33There we had an idyllic time.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35But there was no lounging by this pool.
0:16:35 > 0:16:39In the run up to Melbourne this was boot camp.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42# You shake my nerves and you rattle my brain
0:16:42 > 0:16:44# Too much love drives a man insane
0:16:44 > 0:16:46# You broke my will
0:16:46 > 0:16:48# But what a thrill
0:16:48 > 0:16:51# Goodness gracious great balls of fire! #
0:16:54 > 0:16:56'They realised that the previous coaches and trainers'
0:16:56 > 0:16:59underutilised training.
0:16:59 > 0:17:00They didn't grasp the concept.
0:17:02 > 0:17:05For an athlete to improve their performance
0:17:05 > 0:17:06they needed to work harder.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08Much harder than they can ever conceived.
0:17:08 > 0:17:10Puts their body on the line.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13Train to ways which were previously considered
0:17:13 > 0:17:15unhealthy and unacceptable.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21The first rule at Townsville was mileage,
0:17:21 > 0:17:24so swimmers could gain strength through endurance.
0:17:28 > 0:17:31My mileage was up to eight miles a day,
0:17:31 > 0:17:33which was a lot of miles in those days.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37We were doing it for six and a half days a week.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40I used to do a lot of pulleys. I used to do 1,000 pulleys a day.
0:17:40 > 0:17:43That's what made me very strong underneath the water.
0:17:43 > 0:17:47Coach Carlile was an enthusiastic experimenter
0:17:47 > 0:17:50in the new discipline of sports science.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53'We used heart rates,'
0:17:53 > 0:17:59we use innovations like the training clock, the pace clock in the pool.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04The pace clock is now common in pools around the world
0:18:04 > 0:18:05but then it was new.
0:18:08 > 0:18:11It allowed athletes to do what was called interval training.
0:18:12 > 0:18:18Drills at less than maximum exertion with inbuilt rest periods.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20It meant they could train harder for longer.
0:18:20 > 0:18:25'He might take blood, he might measure their hearts,
0:18:25 > 0:18:26'he might put them in hot water baths
0:18:26 > 0:18:29'to see if he can warm them up before their races.'
0:18:29 > 0:18:33He was innovative, he was experimental...
0:18:33 > 0:18:36and he was prepared to try just about anything.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40Now, make yourself comfortable and relax from the tip of your toes...
0:18:40 > 0:18:44Carlile was a pioneer in sports psychology.
0:18:44 > 0:18:46..and as you slip into a deeper and deeper sleep...
0:18:46 > 0:18:49One guy, you know, couldn't sleep very well at night-time -
0:18:49 > 0:18:51Forbes would go like that, he'd go straight to sleep.
0:18:51 > 0:18:54You'll find your training becoming easier and easier...
0:18:54 > 0:18:57One of our swimmers relaxed before a race
0:18:57 > 0:18:59with a bit of self-hypnosis
0:18:59 > 0:19:00and they couldn't wake him up.
0:19:00 > 0:19:03So they had to call me to wake him up!
0:19:03 > 0:19:06Now, I'll count to three and when I get the three you'll be awake.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10One...two...three.
0:19:11 > 0:19:13Well, how do you feel?
0:19:13 > 0:19:16'I guess the swimming people were a little bit sceptical'
0:19:16 > 0:19:23about our scientific methods, er...but we, sort of, battled on.
0:19:24 > 0:19:27Nothing escaped Carlile's attention.
0:19:27 > 0:19:30Down to the finest detail.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33What about the hair on people's bodies?
0:19:33 > 0:19:35Would it be a good idea to shave that off?
0:19:35 > 0:19:38And he wasn't joking.
0:19:38 > 0:19:40'Jon Henricks was probably the first.'
0:19:40 > 0:19:44The Americans had woolly hair all over their chests
0:19:44 > 0:19:47and if you looked underwater you'd see bubbles catching on them -
0:19:47 > 0:19:48HUGE resistance!
0:19:48 > 0:19:51The Americans thought it was a gimmick.
0:19:51 > 0:19:55It wasn't long before the rest of the world took it up!
0:19:57 > 0:20:01In 1956, Australia didn't just dominate the freestyle races,
0:20:01 > 0:20:06this was a nation particularly good at doing things upside down.
0:20:08 > 0:20:13'You could say there's something slightly incongruous about swimming backwards, isn't there?'
0:20:13 > 0:20:17I recall it being written up in the newspapers as...
0:20:17 > 0:20:19The Ugly Duckling stroke!
0:20:19 > 0:20:25David Theile won gold in the 100 metre backstroke in Melbourne
0:20:25 > 0:20:27but his technique was very different
0:20:27 > 0:20:31to when the stroke was first introduced in the 1900 Olympics.
0:20:31 > 0:20:35Early backstroke with a double arm over the water backstroke
0:20:35 > 0:20:42but David Theile, by 1956, had much improved on that.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46By Theile's time the ultimate overarm stroke
0:20:46 > 0:20:49had become the fastest way to go backwards...
0:20:51 > 0:20:54..but swimmers had found a way to make it even faster.
0:20:55 > 0:20:58Instead of putting straight back under the water,
0:20:58 > 0:21:00the arm moved in an arc.
0:21:01 > 0:21:07As the arm comes down towards level with your shoulder the elbow bends
0:21:07 > 0:21:12and then the last bit of the stroke is a push down to your side.
0:21:14 > 0:21:18Probably the most propelling piece of your stroke is that last bit.
0:21:19 > 0:21:20Using this technique,
0:21:20 > 0:21:24the arm creates more power underwater for longer.
0:21:26 > 0:21:28Theile was a world record holder
0:21:28 > 0:21:32but he wasn't doing everything right by today's standards.
0:21:32 > 0:21:39I believed that the bit of the arc between 12 o'clock and 11 o'clock
0:21:39 > 0:21:42was not very productive at propelling you forward,
0:21:42 > 0:21:45so I put my arm in at 11 and one.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48I thought that was important
0:21:48 > 0:21:52but subsequent top-line backstrokers have shown me that that isn't so.
0:21:52 > 0:21:54They all put their hand right against their ear.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59Yet, in Melbourne and Rome, four years later
0:21:59 > 0:22:02Theile's backstroke won him Olympic gold.
0:22:04 > 0:22:08His success was testament to Australia's coaching revolution,
0:22:08 > 0:22:11which shaped the generation of world-beating swimmers.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17But one would outlast them all.
0:22:18 > 0:22:22Dawn Fraser broke her own world record seven times
0:22:22 > 0:22:25and won three consecutive Olympic golds.
0:22:27 > 0:22:31She cemented her legend as the century's greatest female freestyler
0:22:31 > 0:22:34when she became the first woman to break the minute barrier
0:22:34 > 0:22:36for the 100 metres.
0:22:39 > 0:22:441956 was memorable for more than Australia's dominance.
0:22:44 > 0:22:48A brand-new stroke was raced for the very first time.
0:22:48 > 0:22:49This was the butterfly.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57It emerged four years previously
0:22:57 > 0:23:00in a strange race at the Helsinki Games.
0:23:04 > 0:23:08This was the 200 metres breaststroke final...
0:23:08 > 0:23:12but the eventual winner was using an unusual overrun technique.
0:23:19 > 0:23:21It was fast but it wasn't breaststroke.
0:23:21 > 0:23:26After this race, to save the old stroke from oblivion,
0:23:26 > 0:23:28swimming's governing body ordered that the arms
0:23:28 > 0:23:30must remain underwater.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33But the novel stroke was so beguiling
0:23:33 > 0:23:36it was allowed to form the basis for a brand-new Olympic medal category...
0:23:37 > 0:23:38..the butterfly.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42This petulant, upstart of a stroke
0:23:42 > 0:23:46would push swimmers' bodies to new limits.
0:23:46 > 0:23:50'The ideal motion in butterfly is just being very streamlined,
0:23:50 > 0:23:52'very, very fluent.'
0:23:52 > 0:23:54I mean, you want to create a space
0:23:54 > 0:23:58that you can ease your arms into the stroke,
0:23:58 > 0:24:00pull, pull, push and recover.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04And you have to have your breathing down absolutely.
0:24:04 > 0:24:05Timing is everything
0:24:05 > 0:24:09cos you are lifting this part of your body up out of the water.
0:24:09 > 0:24:13It is about timing and the big secret is the two leg kick.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15You have to get your two leg kicks
0:24:15 > 0:24:16and they have to be a little one and a big one.
0:24:16 > 0:24:21And it's the big one that will push you out of the water.
0:24:21 > 0:24:22I never, in all of my life,
0:24:22 > 0:24:26ever, ever, ever came out of a butterfly race, 100 metres,
0:24:26 > 0:24:29feeling like, "Ah, could have gone..."
0:24:29 > 0:24:31I always came out, "Phew, God, I'm so glad that's over!"
0:24:31 > 0:24:36It is hard! It requires so much energy.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40And once your stroke falls apart,
0:24:40 > 0:24:43and you can see it in the greatest athletes in the world,
0:24:43 > 0:24:46the greatest Olympic events in the world, and you go, "Oh, gosh!"
0:24:46 > 0:24:52You go from his beautiful, powerful streamlined, energy-efficient stroke
0:24:52 > 0:24:56to, er-er-er, and believe me, you're not going anywhere there.
0:24:56 > 0:25:00You might as well put pianos and monkeys and everything else on your back when swimming fly
0:25:00 > 0:25:03because you feel like you're at the bottom of the pool.
0:25:05 > 0:25:07It can happen to anyone,
0:25:07 > 0:25:10as American Olympic favourite Carolyn Wood found out
0:25:10 > 0:25:12in Rome, in 1960.
0:25:15 > 0:25:19It took a special kind of swimmer to perfect this unnatural stroke.
0:25:24 > 0:25:30In 1968 an 18-year-old Californian was busy doing just that.
0:25:38 > 0:25:41His name was Mark Spitz.
0:25:42 > 0:25:46This hot young talent already held world records in butterfly and freestyle
0:25:46 > 0:25:48and would go on to become an Olympic great.
0:25:48 > 0:25:52- COMMENTATOR:- The final of the men's 100 metres butterfly...
0:25:52 > 0:25:58But in 1968, at the Mexico Games, he set himself ambitious task.
0:25:58 > 0:26:02..it's Spitz, although it's Russell who's in the hotspot...
0:26:02 > 0:26:05With the number of men's events having grown to 15,
0:26:05 > 0:26:09Spitz made it his mission to win multiple golds.
0:26:09 > 0:26:13..Spitz, and Mark Spitz, already with a gold in his pocket...
0:26:15 > 0:26:18'I figured I was going to get a couple of gold medals in the relay,
0:26:18 > 0:26:19'maybe three,'
0:26:19 > 0:26:22and I was maybe going to win the 100 and 200 metres butterfly.
0:26:22 > 0:26:25I was figuring, "I'll get five gold medals in a worst case scenario."
0:26:25 > 0:26:28- COMMENTATOR:- With 30 yards to go, he's going to get it...
0:26:28 > 0:26:31His first race was 100 metres butterfly.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34..no, it's Russell on the side, it's Doug Russell on the side,
0:26:34 > 0:26:37he's going to, I think, take Spitz - and he is, by a yard.
0:26:37 > 0:26:39Russell, of the United States, wins the gold.
0:26:39 > 0:26:41Second is Spitz, third is Wales.
0:26:41 > 0:26:46And there is the greatest upset so far of the Olympic Games.
0:26:46 > 0:26:50You know, I should be proud because one, I got a silver medal
0:26:50 > 0:26:53but why would I want to feel proud because I was the world record holder
0:26:53 > 0:26:57and I, I mean, I just failed to give my best.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59And I was so disappointed in myself.
0:27:00 > 0:27:03That silver medal in the 100 metre butterfly really haunted we.
0:27:03 > 0:27:07Spitz had chance to redeem himself in the 200 metres event.
0:27:11 > 0:27:13The race that I hate the most, the 200 fly,
0:27:13 > 0:27:15there was no way to swim that easy.
0:27:19 > 0:27:24For Spitz, in the middle lane, things went from bad to worse.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27I just had all of the air let out of my sails, you know?
0:27:27 > 0:27:30I was just flopping in the wind, basically.
0:27:31 > 0:27:34The world record holder touched the wall in last place.
0:27:35 > 0:27:42I was down and out and feel terrible about myself, you know.
0:27:42 > 0:27:45I was just totally discouraged, to be honest with you.
0:27:48 > 0:27:52Spitz was so disappointed he almost gave up swimming for goods
0:27:52 > 0:27:54to pursue another career as a dentist.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58He applied for a scholarship to Indiana University
0:27:58 > 0:28:01but it wasn't for the quality of its dental school.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03Halfway slow sprint in. Take your mark.
0:28:05 > 0:28:09Indiana had the best swim team in the country.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11OK, start your warm up!
0:28:12 > 0:28:16It's not an exaggeration to call Indiana University,
0:28:16 > 0:28:21in the 1960s and '70s, a franchise in world swimming.
0:28:21 > 0:28:23Indiana University was unstoppable.
0:28:23 > 0:28:26Indiana University became a magnet thanks to one man,
0:28:26 > 0:28:27Doc James Counsilman.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31He was the first coach to go out and get a PhD
0:28:31 > 0:28:34specifically to learn how to make swimmers faster.
0:28:34 > 0:28:38First 25, we'll go halfway...
0:28:38 > 0:28:41At Indiana Spitz could refine his technique
0:28:41 > 0:28:45by learning from the most innovative coach of his generation.
0:28:45 > 0:28:50He said, "Let's examine the greatest swimmers that there are in the world
0:28:50 > 0:28:55"and let me see if there is something that's unique about these people
0:28:55 > 0:28:57"of why they swim so fast."
0:28:58 > 0:29:02Counsilman was obsessed with the science of hydrodynamics -
0:29:02 > 0:29:05the study of how water moves.
0:29:05 > 0:29:06He took his camera under water
0:29:06 > 0:29:10to find out once and for all, what on earth was going on.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14He strapped some little lights on to our fingers,
0:29:14 > 0:29:17in the diving well, got in scuba tank,
0:29:17 > 0:29:21got on the bottom of the pool, turned the lights out
0:29:21 > 0:29:23and he filmed us swimming across.
0:29:23 > 0:29:28And all you could see in the film was the motion of our hand,
0:29:28 > 0:29:30you couldn't see anything else except the lights
0:29:30 > 0:29:34and he traced the hand motion from below as we swam over them.
0:29:35 > 0:29:38What Counsilman found puzzled him,
0:29:38 > 0:29:43his fastest freestylers weren't moving their arms straight back,
0:29:43 > 0:29:46as he would expect, they were doing an "S" shape.
0:29:46 > 0:29:50'If you look at every stroke we do, it's always arches, in everything.'
0:29:50 > 0:29:54In butterfly you go in here and you're going to go round, come out, and back in again.
0:29:54 > 0:29:57Freestyle, it's pretty much the same but with one arm.
0:29:58 > 0:30:02Counsilman put forward the idea that the hands were working less like paddles
0:30:02 > 0:30:04and more like aerofoils.
0:30:04 > 0:30:08The movement of the hand was like wing on it's side,
0:30:08 > 0:30:09pulling the body forward.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15'What you're doing is you're trying to find fresh water
0:30:15 > 0:30:16'to constantly move behind you'
0:30:16 > 0:30:20but if you constantly find fresh water to move
0:30:20 > 0:30:22then that's going to make you move further forward.
0:30:25 > 0:30:26The S-bend arm movement
0:30:26 > 0:30:30is the most efficient and powerful means of moving through water,
0:30:30 > 0:30:33not just in freestyle but in all strokes.
0:30:33 > 0:30:37Mark Spitz was a natural at it in butterfly.
0:30:40 > 0:30:45While I went through the process of him examining all this technique underwater
0:30:45 > 0:30:48we discovered that I had a lung capacity...
0:30:48 > 0:30:53over 40 or 50% larger than most people of my size
0:30:53 > 0:30:57and maybe I was a techno wizard, you know, at what I did
0:30:57 > 0:30:59but if he told me to change anything on my stroke
0:30:59 > 0:31:02I just don't think I would have been capable of doing that.
0:31:05 > 0:31:08Mark Spitz and Doc Counsilman were a dream team.
0:31:10 > 0:31:14For over four years, Spitz bettered his 200 metre butterfly time
0:31:14 > 0:31:17by almost six seconds...
0:31:18 > 0:31:21..but he was yet to prove himself on the international stage.
0:31:24 > 0:31:27The Munich Olympics, 1972...
0:31:27 > 0:31:30Mark Spitz was a new man with a new look...
0:31:32 > 0:31:37..but surely no dignified swimmer would sport something so unstreamlined?
0:31:37 > 0:31:42One Russian journalist had the nerve to ask, "Why?"
0:31:42 > 0:31:43The next question was,
0:31:43 > 0:31:46"Well, what about the moustache? You're going to shave it off?"
0:31:46 > 0:31:50I don't know why I said this, I said, "No, it doesn't slow me down,"
0:31:50 > 0:31:53I said. "It deflects the water away from my mouth
0:31:53 > 0:31:56"and allows my head to get a lot lower and more streamlined,
0:31:56 > 0:31:58"and my behind actually up.
0:31:58 > 0:32:00"And so that's why I was able to break the world record
0:32:00 > 0:32:03"at the Olympic trials in Chicago three weeks before."
0:32:03 > 0:32:05The guy looked at me and hesitated,
0:32:05 > 0:32:08and he translated it as fast as he could, into Russian.
0:32:08 > 0:32:14All male Russian swimmers the next year had a moustache
0:32:14 > 0:32:17and I decided on the spot, "I'm not shaving it off."
0:32:18 > 0:32:24Spitz had a bold aim to match his new look - to win seven gold medals
0:32:24 > 0:32:26but he overreached himself in Mexico,
0:32:26 > 0:32:29could he handle the pressure of Olympic competition this time?
0:32:29 > 0:32:33'During the time you're practising and training
0:32:33 > 0:32:35'it's 80% physical and 20% mental'
0:32:35 > 0:32:38but, for some reason, when it comes time when the gun goes off
0:32:38 > 0:32:39then it's just the opposite...
0:32:41 > 0:32:43..it's 80% mental and only 20% physical.
0:32:45 > 0:32:51Over eight days Spitz would compete in 14 races - an immense challenge.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54And time, by the way, was totally irrelevant to any of these swims,
0:32:54 > 0:32:57it was strictly just to swim, pace myself,
0:32:57 > 0:32:59don't expend a lot more energy than is necessary
0:32:59 > 0:33:01and swim to get the gold medal.
0:33:01 > 0:33:03- COMMENTATOR:- Spitz is really going for it!
0:33:03 > 0:33:08156, 57, 58, 59, 60-2 -
0:33:08 > 0:33:12it's a new world record! Mark Spitz first, second is Hall...
0:33:12 > 0:33:14This time everything went according to plan.
0:33:16 > 0:33:18That race was the beginning.
0:33:20 > 0:33:23- COMMENTATOR:- Mark Spitz is now coming out. The world record is 54.6,
0:33:23 > 0:33:26what's the time on the bottom right-hand side of the screen?
0:33:26 > 0:33:30Everything else sort of fit into place, wasn't that difficult.
0:33:30 > 0:33:34- COMMENTATOR:- It almost looks effortless but it doesn't look as though he's worried too much
0:33:34 > 0:33:36but that man is moving terrifically through the water.
0:33:36 > 0:33:39Matter of fact, it was relatively easy...
0:33:39 > 0:33:42- COMMENTATOR:- Mark Spitz is going to win his third gold medal!
0:33:42 > 0:33:46In the 100 and 200 butterfly, the 200 freestyle and two relays
0:33:46 > 0:33:48Spitz beat all comers.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50..Super Spitz!
0:33:50 > 0:33:53Well, I don't know, I'm going to dental school,
0:33:53 > 0:33:55maybe I'll hang them in my dental office, I don't know.
0:33:55 > 0:33:58Right now I've just got a lot of swimming left.
0:33:58 > 0:34:00But the 100 metres freestyle was his weakest event
0:34:00 > 0:34:06and he'd be racing Olympic champion, Australian Michael Wenden.
0:34:06 > 0:34:09Michael Wenden had this tremendous amount of raw speed
0:34:09 > 0:34:12and this tremendous crazy wind up windmill stroke.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15I was extremely scared of his speed.
0:34:15 > 0:34:19Just when everything was going his way Spitz lost his nerve.
0:34:19 > 0:34:23He considered dropping out of the biggest race of his life.
0:34:23 > 0:34:26It made more sense to get six gold medals out of six tries
0:34:26 > 0:34:30than, all of a sudden, third or fourth
0:34:30 > 0:34:32or maybe not even medal in the 100 free.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35And Wenden had beaten him in the heats -
0:34:35 > 0:34:37he'd had the bad luck to draw him,
0:34:37 > 0:34:43beat him in the semis - he drew him again, and he was psyched out.
0:34:43 > 0:34:47The pressure of his Olympic campaign was finally getting to him...
0:34:48 > 0:34:53..it was down to his coach to try and persuade him otherwise.
0:34:53 > 0:34:55And he said, "I'm going to tell you something,
0:34:55 > 0:34:57"they're going to call you chicken if you don't swim.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00"You are a world record holder and the premier Olympic swimming event
0:35:00 > 0:35:03"is the 100 freestyle so if somebody else wins the 100 free
0:35:03 > 0:35:06"they're going to be known as the fastest swimmer in the world,
0:35:06 > 0:35:08"It's like the 100 dash in track and field.
0:35:08 > 0:35:11"You're known as the fastest athlete, doesn't matter who won the marathon,
0:35:11 > 0:35:14"doesn't matter who won the steeplechase, all those other events,
0:35:14 > 0:35:17"you're the fastest person in the world in track,
0:35:17 > 0:35:18"you're the fastest person in swimming,
0:35:18 > 0:35:21"you've got to win that event and you're the world record holder."
0:35:21 > 0:35:24- COMMENTATOR:- Mark Spitz has already made Olympic history
0:35:24 > 0:35:25with five gold medals.
0:35:25 > 0:35:29Can he make it six? An all-time record for the Olympic games.
0:35:29 > 0:35:30There is the man.
0:35:32 > 0:35:37Two length of the baths. The final of the men's 100 metres freestyle.
0:35:37 > 0:35:39The Blue Riband of the Olympic Games!
0:35:39 > 0:35:43Defending Olympic champion Michael Wenden, in lane seven,
0:35:43 > 0:35:44had his own demons.
0:35:44 > 0:35:48Spitz going up to the turn now, Spitz turns, Bure turns,
0:35:48 > 0:35:49Wenden turns...
0:35:49 > 0:35:54Without making excuses, I think there was the expectation from everyone
0:35:54 > 0:35:58that I would be repeating what happened four years previously.
0:35:59 > 0:36:02Spitz's biggest rival soon fell out of contention.
0:36:02 > 0:36:08The expectations can reside in your mind, they can play havoc
0:36:08 > 0:36:12and it's just those expectations that made a difference.
0:36:12 > 0:36:15- COMMENTATOR:- Spitz is holding off! He's got about a half a metre lead!
0:36:15 > 0:36:17And down on the near side, it's Murphy,
0:36:17 > 0:36:19but Spitz is going to do it!
0:36:19 > 0:36:21Spitz wins the gold medal! In second place...
0:36:21 > 0:36:25I'm just glad that the race ended exactly, boom, right there!
0:36:25 > 0:36:27That one half a stroke left.
0:36:28 > 0:36:31I had zero gas left in my tank, that was it.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34Last stroke was 100%, right up into that last stroke.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37I could hardly get out of the water.
0:36:37 > 0:36:40Spitz not only won gold...
0:36:40 > 0:36:45he took a second off Wenden's 1968 world record.
0:36:45 > 0:36:50The following day, Spitz completed his haul of seven gold medals.
0:36:50 > 0:36:53He broke world records in every single one.
0:36:53 > 0:36:58For Spitz to achieve what he did was in '72 was remarkable.
0:36:58 > 0:37:04Something that still ranks right up there in terms of world achievement.
0:37:06 > 0:37:09Mark Spitz was the first of a new kind of swimmer.
0:37:09 > 0:37:14Multiple golds in multiple events was now the only way to greatness.
0:37:18 > 0:37:21He was the first Olympian to truly capitalise on his fame,
0:37:21 > 0:37:24making millions of dollars in the first year.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29He never did finish dental school.
0:37:29 > 0:37:32Aged just 22, Spitz retired.
0:37:32 > 0:37:36By now his old mentor, Doc Counsilman,
0:37:36 > 0:37:38was in charge of the American men's Olympic team
0:37:38 > 0:37:41and at the Montreal Games in 1976
0:37:41 > 0:37:45they went on to win 27 out of 39 medals.
0:37:45 > 0:37:49But one man was there to stop the American juggernaut -
0:37:49 > 0:37:50he was a Brit.
0:37:50 > 0:37:52That's David Wilkie...
0:37:52 > 0:37:57Scottish breaststroker David Wilkie wanted to break a cycle of defeat.
0:38:01 > 0:38:05The British media at that time didn't have many potential medallists,
0:38:05 > 0:38:08so therefore they made sure that they told me that,
0:38:08 > 0:38:10"If you win this you're going to be the first guy
0:38:10 > 0:38:13"that's won a medal for Britain in six years."
0:38:13 > 0:38:14- COMMENTATOR:- Wilkie and Hencken -
0:38:14 > 0:38:16Wilkie easy to pick out with that white cap...
0:38:16 > 0:38:18Wilkie was trying to win gold
0:38:18 > 0:38:21in the one stroke the Americans cared least about -
0:38:21 > 0:38:23the slowest, breast stroke.
0:38:23 > 0:38:25..but the neck and neck on the second 50,
0:38:25 > 0:38:30David Wilkie now fractionally in front of John Hencken of America...
0:38:30 > 0:38:32But it's a funny stroke to swim, breast stroke,
0:38:32 > 0:38:36you have to have good coordination,
0:38:36 > 0:38:39you can imagine, you know, looking at a frog
0:38:39 > 0:38:41and that's how breaststroke is swum.
0:38:42 > 0:38:44'We're the oddest people,'
0:38:44 > 0:38:47you find the weirdest people as breaststrokers, absolutely.
0:38:47 > 0:38:49'You can see them on the deck, how they walk,'
0:38:49 > 0:38:52their feet tend to go out more, they, kind of, tend to waddle more!
0:38:53 > 0:38:56When people say, "Oh, breaststroke's a namby-pamby stroke,"
0:38:56 > 0:38:58it probably does look namby-pamby
0:38:58 > 0:39:02but it's probably, technically the hardest one to get right.
0:39:03 > 0:39:08- COMMENTATOR:- David Wilkie is absolutely superb! Look at him go!
0:39:08 > 0:39:12He's now got a lead of two metres over Hencken...
0:39:12 > 0:39:16Whatever the its reputation, it was good enough for a British gold.
0:39:21 > 0:39:24Were it not for David Wilkie we would have won every gold medal.
0:39:26 > 0:39:28Our David stopped Goliath in his tracks.
0:39:31 > 0:39:34For young British swimmers, Wilkie's victory was a revelation.
0:39:38 > 0:39:39I remember watching Wilkie, at 12,
0:39:39 > 0:39:40winning the gold medal.
0:39:40 > 0:39:45When I was 12 I was, kind of, small, bit shy, bit puny
0:39:45 > 0:39:47and coming third, fourth and fifth in my swimming races,
0:39:47 > 0:39:50and I thought, "That's a good thing to do."
0:39:50 > 0:39:53- You know, he seemed popular! - HE LAUGHS
0:39:53 > 0:39:55Wilkie was doing something quite differently
0:39:55 > 0:39:57from the technique of the time,
0:39:57 > 0:39:59where the breaststroke was a, kind of, a flat stroke,
0:39:59 > 0:40:01and Wilkie was bringing it quite high,
0:40:01 > 0:40:04and bringing his shoulders and half his back out of the water.
0:40:04 > 0:40:06So we were already starting to have conversations
0:40:06 > 0:40:08about copying his technique, actually.
0:40:14 > 0:40:16Wilkie's dipping breaststroke
0:40:16 > 0:40:20was imitated by a generation of male and female Olympic swimmers.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28The stroke has evolved to become much more fluid,
0:40:28 > 0:40:31in fact we almost have this butterfly movement in the breast stroke now.
0:40:37 > 0:40:41'Breaststroke is a one stroke, which you have to get timing right.'
0:40:41 > 0:40:43You're trying to do these two conjoined things,
0:40:43 > 0:40:44if they go wrong it doesn't work,
0:40:44 > 0:40:47you, kind of, pull yourself backwards and forwards.
0:40:47 > 0:40:49You've got to get your back out the water,
0:40:49 > 0:40:52imagine trying to get a dry spot in the middle of your back.
0:40:54 > 0:40:57By 1988 the 12-year-old boy had grown up,
0:40:57 > 0:41:01now with a powerful breaststroke of his own,
0:41:01 > 0:41:04Moorhouse attempted to emulate his hero at the Seoul Olympics.
0:41:04 > 0:41:06- COMMENTATOR:- Schroeder of the United States is also going well
0:41:06 > 0:41:10but Moorhouse is breaking it down!
0:41:10 > 0:41:13There's only ten metres to go - can he get it?
0:41:13 > 0:41:15He's coming through very quickly indeed!
0:41:15 > 0:41:18This is a tremendous finish - it's going to be a fingertip touch!
0:41:18 > 0:41:21And... Moorhouse has got it! Gold for Britain!
0:41:22 > 0:41:26102.04 by Adrian Moorhouse.
0:41:26 > 0:41:30Moorhouse won with a 100th of a second to spare.
0:41:33 > 0:41:34The first, sort of, feeling I had
0:41:34 > 0:41:37was I actually feeling sorry for the guy that came second.
0:41:38 > 0:41:41And then I got over that! It took me about ten seconds!
0:41:41 > 0:41:43Thinking, "OK, yep, OK, I've won."
0:41:43 > 0:41:46Lid flips off and you go, "Whoa, I've just done THAT thing!"
0:41:46 > 0:41:48So it all, sort of, comes in, floods in.
0:41:48 > 0:41:51- That lasted about two minutes. - HE LAUGHS
0:41:51 > 0:41:54Then it settles into a something quite fantastic, really.
0:41:58 > 0:42:00I don't look at the medal very often
0:42:00 > 0:42:03but I know what it feels like to be an Olympic champion.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15That same year, in the women's event,
0:42:15 > 0:42:18East Germany won ten out of 15 gold medals.
0:42:18 > 0:42:21'These were fine athletes, you know,'
0:42:21 > 0:42:25tuned athletes but they were tuned in a different way than we were tuned.
0:42:25 > 0:42:28You know, they were tuned through a system.
0:42:28 > 0:42:32A system that was there to make sure that they won at all costs.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36Their ascent to the top of the podium
0:42:36 > 0:42:39had started 12 years previously.
0:42:41 > 0:42:45American Wendy Boglioli came up against them in 1976.
0:42:45 > 0:42:49'They were so fast...'
0:42:49 > 0:42:51but I, actually, was gaining on them and I thought,
0:42:51 > 0:42:55"Oh, my gosh! Really, I have this great chance!"
0:42:55 > 0:42:59- COMMENTATOR:- Wendy Boglioli of the United States is coming back at Kornelia Ender
0:42:59 > 0:43:01but Ender is just managing to stay ahead
0:43:01 > 0:43:05as they come up with, now, 12 and a half metres to go.
0:43:05 > 0:43:09I got extremely excited my last 12 yards, 12 metres.
0:43:09 > 0:43:11I can remember every single stroke that,
0:43:11 > 0:43:13I can remember every little bit.
0:43:13 > 0:43:15It's almost as if it was in slow motion.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18I touched the wall, without a doubt I thought I had sack it.
0:43:18 > 0:43:20- COMMENTATOR:- It's Ender home first,
0:43:20 > 0:43:23second is Pollack, third is Boglioli.
0:43:23 > 0:43:25I looked up and I went, "Third".
0:43:25 > 0:43:28Then I went, "No, third, I medalled, no, third is good!"
0:43:29 > 0:43:32But as the East Germans won gold after gold
0:43:32 > 0:43:35rumours circulated that they weren't clean.
0:43:36 > 0:43:39'These women were big women -'
0:43:39 > 0:43:40BIG women.
0:43:40 > 0:43:43'We knew that East Germans were taking something,'
0:43:43 > 0:43:46the frustrating thing was not being able to prove it or get something done.
0:43:46 > 0:43:51In 1980, 17-year-old British hopeful Sharron Davies
0:43:51 > 0:43:54found herself facing the East Germans at the Moscow games.
0:43:54 > 0:43:57- COMMENTATOR:- This girl Schneider has a lead of...
0:43:57 > 0:43:58getting on for 30 metres now.
0:44:00 > 0:44:03And Sharron Davies is going to win the silver medal!
0:44:03 > 0:44:05'That was what was the hardest thing to deal with, really.'
0:44:05 > 0:44:08Was training every day knowing you were having to beat that
0:44:08 > 0:44:11as well as, you know, just get your performance right.
0:44:12 > 0:44:15Davies took the silver medal behind Petra Schneider.
0:44:18 > 0:44:22The East German women dominated throughout the '80s
0:44:22 > 0:44:25but when the Berlin wall came down in 1989
0:44:25 > 0:44:27an incriminating set of files came to light.
0:44:30 > 0:44:33They appeared to show a state-sponsored programme
0:44:33 > 0:44:36had been supplying athletes with performance enhancing steroids.
0:44:38 > 0:44:40We found out what they were giving them
0:44:40 > 0:44:44was making roughly a 9% increase on their performance,
0:44:44 > 0:44:46which meant that you can take an average club swimmer
0:44:46 > 0:44:49and turn them into a world record holder within six months.
0:44:50 > 0:44:54I had a hard time believing anyone or any country
0:44:54 > 0:44:58could be that dishonest at something so special
0:44:58 > 0:44:59that you work your entire life for.
0:44:59 > 0:45:03Who...seriously...
0:45:03 > 0:45:06who treats the Olympics like that?
0:45:13 > 0:45:15Swimming had stared into the abyss...
0:45:15 > 0:45:18but other nations were relying on old-fashioned hard work
0:45:18 > 0:45:19to get to the top.
0:45:20 > 0:45:24In 2000, the Olympics were due to be staged in Sydney.
0:45:24 > 0:45:27As in Melbourne, over 40 years earlier,
0:45:27 > 0:45:30Australia had a lot to prove.
0:45:30 > 0:45:34You've really just got nice rhythm moving but before...
0:45:34 > 0:45:36Don Talbot was installed as coach.
0:45:38 > 0:45:41My goal has always been to be number one in the world, no other way.
0:45:41 > 0:45:45And the Americans are number one, that's who we're going after.
0:45:45 > 0:45:47Talbot had a trump card,
0:45:47 > 0:45:51he was a 17-year-old freestyler from Sydney called Ian Thorpe.
0:45:57 > 0:45:59There's no parts missing, everything is in place -
0:45:59 > 0:46:03mental approach, mental toughness, mental strength,
0:46:03 > 0:46:07feel of the water, his massive kick that he can switch on and off.
0:46:08 > 0:46:10This was a new era in swimming,
0:46:10 > 0:46:12Thorpe combined an extraordinary talent
0:46:12 > 0:46:14with an extraordinary physique.
0:46:14 > 0:46:18He was six foot five with size 14 feet.
0:46:19 > 0:46:21'The thing is, with swimming, the larger your hands are,
0:46:21 > 0:46:23'the larger your feet are, the more water you can catch.'
0:46:23 > 0:46:26He was perfect physique for swimming,
0:46:26 > 0:46:29in the fact that big feet, big hands, he's got a lot of propulsion
0:46:29 > 0:46:31that he could catch an awful lot of water.
0:46:33 > 0:46:35We just were convinced he was a fish, really.
0:46:38 > 0:46:42Thorpe's first test came early in the Sydney games -
0:46:42 > 0:46:45two old foes, Australia and America,
0:46:45 > 0:46:48would contest an historic race on the first day of competition.
0:46:51 > 0:46:53At 8.15pm eight teams walked out
0:46:53 > 0:46:56to compete in the 100 metres freestyle relay...
0:46:59 > 0:47:01..the ultimate in team sprinting.
0:47:03 > 0:47:04In the crucial final leg,
0:47:04 > 0:47:11Ian Thorpe would face US anchorman and super-sprinter Gary Hall Jr.
0:47:11 > 0:47:13'I had an immense amount of pressure on me,'
0:47:13 > 0:47:15people just assumed that I'd win.
0:47:15 > 0:47:19Thorpe's specialism wasn't sprinting but middle distance.
0:47:19 > 0:47:23And for me, I'm 17, I'm a kid, I had not been to an Olympics before,
0:47:23 > 0:47:27I didn't know what was going to happen.
0:47:27 > 0:47:31Just days before, Gary Hall had boasted that the Americans
0:47:31 > 0:47:33would, "Smash the Aussies like guitars."
0:47:35 > 0:47:37'When people start making brags like that'
0:47:37 > 0:47:40they mustn't be sure of themselves.
0:47:40 > 0:47:42If they're not sure of themselves then we're going to beat 'em.
0:47:42 > 0:47:44- COMMENTATOR:- Full line-up -
0:47:44 > 0:47:46Sweden in one, Brazil - two, Germany - three,
0:47:46 > 0:47:48USA - four, Australia - five...
0:47:48 > 0:47:50American had history on its side -
0:47:50 > 0:47:56in 36 years of this race at the Olympics the USA had won every time.
0:47:59 > 0:48:02- COMMENTATOR:- Michael Klim is going out hard...
0:48:02 > 0:48:04First in for Australia was Michael Klim.
0:48:05 > 0:48:08..what a magnificent start for the Australian!
0:48:10 > 0:48:15He's on world record pace - 22.83 record paces. 22.33...
0:48:15 > 0:48:18'We knew that if we could get Klimmy out,'
0:48:18 > 0:48:21not be swamped by the Americans, then we could get them.
0:48:21 > 0:48:23..he is going after these Americans!
0:48:23 > 0:48:26He wants them, he wants to eat them for dinner...!
0:48:26 > 0:48:28The race was living up to its hype -
0:48:28 > 0:48:32in the first leg Klim smashed the 100 metres record.
0:48:35 > 0:48:38Over the next two legs the pair of swimming super powers
0:48:38 > 0:48:40forged ahead of the field.
0:48:40 > 0:48:43And coming into my leg I realised that we're even
0:48:43 > 0:48:46and, you know, the whole time I had asked the other guys,
0:48:46 > 0:48:50"I need a lead, I need a lead, I need a lead!"
0:48:51 > 0:48:54It would all come down to the final leg -
0:48:54 > 0:48:56Thorpe versus Hall.
0:48:56 > 0:48:59'I couldn't go any faster on the first lap,
0:48:59 > 0:49:01'that's as fast as I can go.'
0:49:01 > 0:49:03Away they go for the final 50...
0:49:03 > 0:49:06'I also remember doing the turn and pushing off,
0:49:06 > 0:49:11'and realising they are so far ahead of me right now!
0:49:11 > 0:49:13- COMMENTATOR:- They're matching slots now!
0:49:13 > 0:49:16Thorpe locked horns with Hall. They've got about 15 metres...
0:49:16 > 0:49:19'I knew this was going to be the time that it was,
0:49:19 > 0:49:22'you make a mistake, you stuff this up.'
0:49:22 > 0:49:25..Hall and Thorpe, Thorpe's in front!
0:49:25 > 0:49:27Thorpe and Hall, Thorpe goes in!
0:49:29 > 0:49:31- COMMENTATOR:- I cannot believe he's done that!
0:49:31 > 0:49:35Australian team of Klim, Fydler, Callus and Thorpe
0:49:35 > 0:49:38but, my word, I cannot believe that Thorpe's done that!
0:49:38 > 0:49:42I'm not usually that excitable but I was excited about that,
0:49:42 > 0:49:44it was good to see,
0:49:44 > 0:49:47and doubly because one, we won that event and set new world record,
0:49:47 > 0:49:49but because we beat the Americans!
0:49:52 > 0:49:54With three gold and two silvers,
0:49:54 > 0:49:57Thorpe was the 2000 Games' most decorated athlete
0:49:57 > 0:50:01but he had something other than his size and talent,
0:50:01 > 0:50:02his trade mark all-in-one bodysuit
0:50:02 > 0:50:08that turned him from plain old Ian Thorpe into the Thorpedo.
0:50:08 > 0:50:10'The biggest thing that the swimsuits have done'
0:50:10 > 0:50:15was it created a rigidity in people's upper body, their torsos,
0:50:15 > 0:50:17which meant that they didn't have to have
0:50:17 > 0:50:20the finesse that you need in swimming
0:50:20 > 0:50:23to be able to create an anchor point to put power.
0:50:25 > 0:50:31At Athens, in 2004, six out of eight finalist in the 200 metre freestyle
0:50:31 > 0:50:34had their own version of the suit.
0:50:34 > 0:50:38Questions started to be asked, "How far should technology go?"
0:50:38 > 0:50:43The issue was when it became a suit that physiologically helped you.
0:50:43 > 0:50:46So, compress the muscle, stop lactic acid building up,
0:50:46 > 0:50:50i.e. gave you an advantage physically
0:50:50 > 0:50:52rather than just a slip through the water.
0:50:52 > 0:50:55'To some degree it's like wearing an outboard motor.'
0:50:56 > 0:50:58'Swimming is meant to be accessible to everybody.'
0:50:58 > 0:51:00If you say it's £300 for a suit,
0:51:00 > 0:51:05well, Mums can't go and buy £300 suits for their son or daughter,
0:51:05 > 0:51:08which last, you know, a couple of months.
0:51:08 > 0:51:09You know, a sports rule,
0:51:09 > 0:51:12a little pair of swimming trunks, a pair of goggles and off you go.
0:51:12 > 0:51:15- COMMENTATOR:- Thorpe is leading, van den Hoogenband coming back a little,
0:51:15 > 0:51:18Phelps coming back too - the gold goes to Thorpe!
0:51:18 > 0:51:22In 2009, swimming's governing body finally decided
0:51:22 > 0:51:24technology had gone too far
0:51:24 > 0:51:27and banned full-length suits from international competition.
0:51:29 > 0:51:32The controversy is far from over.
0:51:32 > 0:51:37It would be like asking skiing to go back to wood skis
0:51:37 > 0:51:41and leather boots with spring binding.
0:51:41 > 0:51:43What effect would that have on skiing?
0:51:43 > 0:51:46Well, they wouldn't go down the hill as fast
0:51:46 > 0:51:49but the same people would still be winning.
0:51:54 > 0:51:56The Beijing Olympics 2008.
0:51:56 > 0:51:59Swimming reached for new heights
0:51:59 > 0:52:02when one man attempted to take the sport into unknown territory.
0:52:06 > 0:52:0823-year-old American Michael Phelps
0:52:08 > 0:52:13set out to become the first man to win eight golds in one games.
0:52:17 > 0:52:21Over eight days, Phelps competed in 17 races -
0:52:21 > 0:52:25three more than Mark Spitz had raced in '76.
0:52:25 > 0:52:27'Second is not what Michael Phelps is about.'
0:52:27 > 0:52:31I don't see him being very interested in coming second.
0:52:34 > 0:52:35He is very talented
0:52:35 > 0:52:38but he one of the talented people that does the work as well
0:52:38 > 0:52:42and so it's a winning combination, go figure!
0:52:42 > 0:52:45- COMMENTATOR:- Oh, 142.96!
0:52:45 > 0:52:47Phelps won gold in the 200 freestyle,
0:52:47 > 0:52:52the one and 200 butterfly and three relay events.
0:52:54 > 0:52:56'Everything just kept falling into place.'
0:52:56 > 0:53:03I knew I could do it but I didn't know if I was going to. I hoped to.
0:53:03 > 0:53:05- COMMENTATOR:- Michael Phelps is just powering away.
0:53:05 > 0:53:07Look at this, he's got clear water
0:53:07 > 0:53:09between him and the rest of the field...
0:53:09 > 0:53:12I think there were a lot things that had to pretty much be perfect
0:53:12 > 0:53:15for me to be able to do it and I'd say it was pretty perfect.
0:53:15 > 0:53:18..oh, how much does it mean? Seven golds in seven days...
0:53:18 > 0:53:20Phelps had a secret weapon -
0:53:20 > 0:53:25he'd perfected the most important innovation of the last 20 years -
0:53:25 > 0:53:28the underwater dolphin kick.
0:53:28 > 0:53:30'Underwater you're going to go faster than the surface'
0:53:30 > 0:53:34cos you're more streamlined and you can cut through water, there's less resistance.
0:53:34 > 0:53:38When you're on the surface there's more drag and resistance, it's slower on the surface.
0:53:38 > 0:53:40That's why you maximise as much as you can under the water.
0:53:40 > 0:53:43This kick is perfectly suited to Phelps -
0:53:43 > 0:53:47he's six foot four with short legs in proportion to his body.
0:53:47 > 0:53:51'If you look at swimmers and you actually did analysis on their body,
0:53:51 > 0:53:53'the one's that are better at underwater fly kick'
0:53:53 > 0:53:55tend to have shorter legs
0:53:55 > 0:53:57cos if you've got slightly shorter legs
0:53:57 > 0:53:59your tail's a little bit more whippy.
0:54:01 > 0:54:03'His fly kick is just phenomenal,
0:54:03 > 0:54:05'he's got flexibility, a real whip,'
0:54:05 > 0:54:07and you can see him take half a metre,
0:54:07 > 0:54:09a metre off some of his rivals.
0:54:11 > 0:54:16If there's one event that showcases Phelps' talent it's the medley.
0:54:16 > 0:54:19All four strokes in one race.
0:54:19 > 0:54:21It not only decides who is the greatest all-rounder,
0:54:21 > 0:54:25it's the embodiment of a century of swimming history.
0:54:29 > 0:54:31First the gruelling butterfly,
0:54:31 > 0:54:34a stroke perfectly suited to Phelps' body shape...
0:54:38 > 0:54:41..then the incongruous backstroke.
0:54:41 > 0:54:45Once an ugly duckling, now sleek and elegant...
0:54:54 > 0:54:57..next the undulating breaststroke -
0:54:57 > 0:55:00designed for comfort, improved for speed...
0:55:02 > 0:55:04..and finally the freestyle.
0:55:04 > 0:55:09Over 100 years in the making - streamlined and smooth.
0:55:09 > 0:55:12No-one in history had swam these four strokes faster.
0:55:12 > 0:55:14- COMMENTATOR:- Michael Phelps takes the gold medal
0:55:14 > 0:55:18in the men's 400 metres individual medley. A stunning swim!
0:55:18 > 0:55:22This was a masterclass in modern swimming.
0:55:22 > 0:55:26Once every four years you have the opportunity to go to the Olympics
0:55:26 > 0:55:28and represent your country...
0:55:31 > 0:55:34..it's the highest level of competition
0:55:34 > 0:55:37and, you know, brings the best athletes together
0:55:37 > 0:55:39to compete as hard as you can for an Olympic gold medal.
0:55:42 > 0:55:43I can remember every single moment.
0:55:46 > 0:55:51On the 17th of August 2008 Michael Phelps made history
0:55:51 > 0:55:54when he won his eight gold medal in Beijing.
0:55:54 > 0:55:58He set new world records in six events.
0:56:06 > 0:56:08The Aquatics Centre for London 2012...
0:56:10 > 0:56:13..a far cry from the outdoor enclosures in Stockholm
0:56:13 > 0:56:14a century ago.
0:56:16 > 0:56:19This is a tightly controlled environment.
0:56:19 > 0:56:22The pool, three metres deep from start to finish,
0:56:22 > 0:56:28is a warm 26 degrees - the optimum temperature for speed.
0:56:28 > 0:56:34In the modern Olympics 950 swimmers will compete across 34 events.
0:56:35 > 0:56:39Many nations have upped their game, including Great Britain.
0:56:39 > 0:56:42British coaches and British athletes in swimming
0:56:42 > 0:56:44are a feared group of people now.
0:56:45 > 0:56:47In the lead up to Beijing,
0:56:47 > 0:56:50coaches like Bill Sweetenham brought to the British team
0:56:50 > 0:56:52a new winning mentality.
0:56:54 > 0:56:57It takes courage to say, "I'm going to win."
0:56:57 > 0:57:01I hope when I have left they believed that they could win
0:57:01 > 0:57:02and we're going to win.
0:57:03 > 0:57:06One athlete typified this drive for success.
0:57:06 > 0:57:12In 2008 Rebecca Adlington became Britain's most successful Olympic swimmer ever
0:57:12 > 0:57:13when she took on the world,
0:57:13 > 0:57:18not in the traditional breaststroke but the fastest stroke -
0:57:18 > 0:57:19the freestyle.
0:57:19 > 0:57:22- COMMENTATOR:- Could be! Adlington's going to be the gold medallist!
0:57:22 > 0:57:23Oh, my goodness, it is!
0:57:24 > 0:57:27In the 800 metres she had not just the gold
0:57:27 > 0:57:30but the world record in her sights.
0:57:30 > 0:57:31'I wanted to get near it,'
0:57:31 > 0:57:35I wanted to be the first girl to get at least a second inside of it
0:57:35 > 0:57:38and I just, kind of, that was my focus.
0:57:38 > 0:57:41All I was thinking is, "I want to get this world record!"
0:57:41 > 0:57:45This was a record that had stood for 19 years.
0:57:45 > 0:57:47- COMMENTATOR:- Absolutely brilliant, the world record,
0:57:47 > 0:57:50oh, it's gone by 2.1 -
0:57:50 > 0:57:52a massive, massive world record!
0:57:52 > 0:57:54'I wanted that record so bad.'
0:57:54 > 0:57:57I must be insane to want to keep pushing my body that hard
0:57:57 > 0:58:01and, kind of, go but I want to, I want to go faster!
0:58:04 > 0:58:08Rebecca Adlington is part of a new breed of Olympic swimmers.
0:58:08 > 0:58:09Highly-tuned athletes
0:58:09 > 0:58:12who have reaped the rewards of a revolution in training,
0:58:12 > 0:58:15sports science and technology.
0:58:20 > 0:58:23This generation of Olympians will swim faster.
0:58:25 > 0:58:27How they do it will be up to them.
0:58:51 > 0:58:54Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd