Team USA inspired by Bobby Finke

Less than one hour before their race kicked off, USA’s Bobby Finke set a world record in the men’s 1500m and Walsh largely credited that for the energy she had going into the last race of the Games.

“Bobby’s swim was electric,” she said. “That was amazing and that got my energy going for the relay, so I was pumped to assert the lead and get the gold.”

As the medal ceremony wrapped up, all four Australian women jumped back into the pool, this time fully clothed, to celebrate their medal and the conclusion of swimming in Paris.

“It definitely hasn’t sunk in, I’m just really happy,” said six-time Olympic champion Emma McKeon.

“That jump in the pool, that just tops the meet for me, it was so much fun.”

Jenna Strauch, who swam the breaststroke leg for Australia, added to the excitement, saying: “That’s my first Olympic medal and I don’t know what the future holds for me, so if that’s what I go out on then that’s an exceptional high.

“I couldn’t be more proud of these girls and how Australia’s been able to do – to have once-in-a-lifetime athletes on one team from a small country. As a country, we should be extremely proud of our efforts.”

Canada, who won bronze in the event at Tokyo 2020, missed the podium to take fourth, 0.68 seconds behind the People’s Republic of China.