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, leaving Australia in fourth place at the end of the first leg. Evans then swam a personal best of 63.01 s to put Australia in second place, almost level with the host nation at the halfway mark. Evans had out-split Goodhew by 0.8 s and Miskarov by 0.5 s. Tonelli then swam his leg in 54.94 s, almost two seconds faster than he had ever done before. Tonelli began to lose ground in the last 50 m and was a bodylength behind until a late surge brought him to within a metre of the lead by the end of his leg. Brooks then performed a powerful, well-timed dive and surfaced almost even with his Soviet counterpart. He had drawn level by the halfway mark and made a superior turn to take the lead. The Soviet freestyler pulled level at the 25 m mark before Brooks again sprinted away to seal an Australian victory by 0.22 s. Brooks had finished his leg in 49.86 s as he had vowed to his teammates. The time of 3 m 45.70 s sealed Australia's first-ever win in a medley relay at the Olympics, for men or women. The team then made a celebratory dive into the pool and were interviewed at the poolside. Evans said that the relay "was unbelievable, but it was all so logical. I was so deliriously happy that I couldn't stop talking."