Kieren Perkins has reflected on the extraordinary moment he won gold from lane eight at the 1996 Olympics. 

Perkins dominated the pool in his 1500-metre swim to win with a time of 14:56.40.

“You put together the most unbelievable swims this country’s ever seen,” said Neil Breen. “But everyone will say ‘hey, what’s your favourite Olympics moment?’ and everyone says ‘Perkins from lane 8’.”

“I can’t be anything but humbled and proud by that,” Perkins said.

“In some respects, it was more like a Hollywood script than any of the swimming performances I did … before that.

“To know that the public at large has been conscious of what you’ve done and impacted by it is incredible.

“I still to this day pinch myself every now and again just to believe it.”

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