The result was not what they had craved but, on their own, the parts that made the whole of the Australian men's relay team left the Rio pool with reason to smile, or in the case of Cam McEvoy, prepare to take flight.
A gold medal was always stretching the dream for the 4x100m team, who returned to the Olympic pool desperate to erase the London flop. Three of the same men - McEvoy, James Magnussen and James Roberts - were back in action, yet all had arrived on a very different path. Teenager Kyle Chalmers just flat-out arrived, full stop.
Bronze was their prize on night two at the pool, behind the brilliant Americans spearheaded by Michael Phelps (now 19 gold medals) and anchored by Nathan Adrian, a smiling giant who will now go on to try to defend his 100m freestyle crown. The French, pre-race fancies, took silver.
It was McEvoy's first foray into the Rio pool and, after sitting out the heats, his debut was everything we had hoped to witness. With three men in front of him going into the final leg, he split 47 seconds to ensure he and his teammates found their way onto the podium.
Adrian, meanwhile, split 46.9 way out in front. The 100m freestyle now looks as if it will live up to its traditional billing as the greatest race on the Olympic program and the affable American will take a mountain of beating.
McEvoy had long said the gold was far from his, despite his brilliant form this year. Now we must all believe he's going to have to earn it the hard way.
"He went 46.9... I've always expected the 100 freestyle was going to be a race... in my mind it was never something I was going in expecting to win," said McEvoy, who owns the fastest non-supersuit time of 47.04s.
"That relay shows my prediction was correct. Relays are very different to individuals, I'm just extremely happy with the split I did then."
Chalmers, a South Australian AFL prodigy that chose the pool over the Sherrin, looks to be an absolute bulldog in the water and still has an individual swim in the 100m freestyle. A medal doesn't seem beyond his reach.
He swam second and had every single opponent to overhaul after a sluggish start from James Roberts. By the time he touched, all but one man had been mowed down. That was Phelps, although Chalmers wasn't even sure who he was racing.
"I didn't even look... was he second? I just swam my own race and didn't think who I was racing against," Chalmers said.
Magnussen has changed immeasurably since the brash days in London, where he talked a gold medal but had to make do with silver, or in the case of their world champion relay team, nothing but disappointment.
After serious shoulder surgery, he was just happy to be there. The medal was a bonus and he will continue to rehab his scarred and battered joint with the Commonwealth Games and perhaps Tokyo in mind.
"I've had my good weeks and bad weeks. I'm probably six months away from being anywhere near my best. I've been determined to do the best preparation I could to do justice to this team," Magnussen said.
"If I never get an Olympic gold medal I can live with myself that I gave everything I could in my swimming career. But the old shoulders have got a couple of years left in them yet."
Impressive tally: US swimmer Michael Phelps. Photo: Getty Images
Roberts, too, has rebounded from injury and the stigma that came with being part of the Stillnox gang back in London. His lead-off time of 48.88s made it difficult to stay in the race but after twin shoulder reconstructions, everything has been a bonus.
"We had a strategy going in and I believe that was the best strategy. I gave it everything I could tonight. I don't think I've ever hurt that much. Pretty happy all around," Roberts said.
"Like James (Magnussen), I'm so proud to be back on this team and get an Olympic bronze. Making the team was one of the happiest moments of my life. It means so much."
Now all eyes fall on McEvoy, who will try to do what Magnussen could not in London and slay the beast that is the 100m freestyle. And like Magnussen, Adrian stands right in his path.
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