161 First Day Finale (2)

The importance of the first swimmer was second only to the last swimmer in a relay race.

First for the British team was 100m backstroke world record holder Liam Tancock.

His freestyle strength was also among the top in the world. The Great Britain team ranked fourth in the preliminaries and were in lane 6.

The Australian team's first swimmer was the strongest this year and also the strongest contender for the 100m freestyle gold medal, James Magnussen. They ranked second in the preliminary results and were next to the British team, in lane 5. 

On the other side was the United States team with "Old Thunder" Jason Lezak at first bat for them. They ranked third in the preliminaries and were in the third lane.

The 100m freestyle world record holder Alain Bernard was who the French team sent up, they had scored first place in the preliminaries so were naturally in the fourth lane, the most optimal lane.