Swimming at the 1980 Summer Olympics – Men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay and fourth in their respective 100 m events. The British team included the 100 m breaststroke gold medallist (Duncan Goodhew), and fifth-place finisher in the 100 m backstroke (Gary Abraham). Sweden's butterflyer (Pär Arvidsson) and backstroker (Bengt Baron) had won their respective 100 m events, and their freestyle swimmer (Per Holmertz) had come second in the 100 m, while their lowest ranked swimmer, the breaststroker (Peter Berggren), had come ninth in the 100 m event. The Australians were regarded as an outside chance for a medal, but were not seen as the main threats, as they were ranked seventh coming
Great Britain at the 1924 Summer Olympics in the sport; Great Britain was one of three nations, along with Greece and the United States, to have competed in each edition of the Olympic athletics competitions. With three gold medals and eleven total medals, the British athletes finished third in both counts behind the Americans and the Finns. Harold Abrahams and Eric Liddell, two of the British Olympic champions in the sport, would later be the subjects of the film "Chariots of Fire" for their competition in Paris. Liddell won the 400 metres, breaking the world record in the final. Abrahams took the gold medal in the 100