Craig's Story
Craig Stevens will forever be remembered as the chap who surrendered his right to swim in the 400 metres at Athens, to enable Ian Thorpe to successfully defend the Olympic title that he had won at Sydney 2000. Stevens, Antony Matkovich and Todd Pearson were heat swimmers in the 4 x 200metres relay at Athens before Grant Hackett, Michael Klim, Nicholas Sprenger and Thorpe were just edged out for the gold medal by the Michael Phelps-led Americans. In the final, Thorpe desperately tried to reel in the lead set up by the first three Americans but fell 0.13 seconds short, in the closest finish in the event since Los Angeles 1984. Stevens also finished eighth in the 1500 metres at Athens, in a race where Hackett defended his Sydney title. At Beijing 2008, he swam in the heats of the 400 and 1500 metres. At the world championships, he finished second in the 800 metres in 2007 and was part of the gold medal-winning 4 x 200 metres team in 2003.
