Look back to a particular balmy night in Athens, and you see Steve Parry lining up in lane 4, the fastest qualifier in the Olympic final of the 200m butterfly. A little over 24 hours earlier he was almost at rock bottom, the 16th qualifier from heats and yet here he was shooting for gold. 16 years on from that final how have his recollections changed, and did he really think he could have beaten Michael Phelps?
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For the next in the series of “20 at 20” favourite moments from the last 20 years, we journey back to 2006 and the Melbourne Commonwealth Games. Specifically to the men’s 4 x 200m freestyle relay which produced an epic battle and a result that was unclear until the final few metres.
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We already knew the quality of Britain’s 4×200 freestyle men by the time the 2017 World Championships rolled around. After all they had won the world title in 2015 and Olympic Silver in 2016. Hopes were high, therefore, that they could retain that gold medal in Budapest.
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By the time of the 2006 European Championships it was 7 years since Britain had sent a proper team. In Budapest, a stirring performance from the women’s medley relay team heralded the start of a period of sustained success in that event.
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When Alys Thomas mounted her blocks for the final of the 200m butterfly at the 2018 Commonwealth Games as the fastest qualifier, she probably thought she had a great chance of a medal. She may even have thought she could win. What was clear from her reaction at the end of the race was that she clearly didn’t think it would be that good…
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