On this day, September 16, 25 years ago, Ian Thorpe led a celebration of extraordinary swimming and events on the opening night of finals at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.

It was the Games that also brought us Eric the Eel, as named by me, Craig Lord. Eric's story provided the reason why the Thorpedo and the Eel would be mentioned in the same breath, share sentences in column inches galore and find themselves being compared by broadcasters the world over. More on all of that when we mark the quarter-century anniversary of the 2000 Games later this year.

For now, here is a memory of the Day 1 Drama in the pool on a day that witnessed five world records in four finals, led by a towering performance from Thorpe - still 17, his birthday a month away - and coached by Doug Frost.

Thorpe would account for two golds and two World records by the close of the opening day of swimming at the Games. Talk about starting with a Bang!

The atmosphere was electrifying from the moment we entered the pool at Homebush. If the preview days leading up to a week of sensational Olympic racing at the first eight-day swimming programme at the Games promised much, what unfolded in the first evening of finals was telling not only for the moment but set the tone and pace for the seven fabulous days that followed and the decade as a whole.

It was the first Games at which bodysuits were worn since the pre-War era. Textile, sleek by design, compression taken further than ever before, they made a visible impact in the pool but nothing like the kind of impact on times across the board and deep through the world rankings as non-textile shiny suits made in 2008-09.

There were 15 world records, a high tally in historic terms (though a touch over a third of the farcical tally hat would unfold as a result of non-textile suits nine years later at Rome 2009 World titles.

This day 25 years ago, Day 1 at Sydney 2000, was epic, a thriller among thrillers down the swimming ages, an historic highlight that never grows old.

Act 1, Scene 1, and … Action!

The first session of finals had writers from the wider world of sport waking up to the gladiatorial nature of a great sport.

As Thorpe rose to his blocks for the start of the 400m freestyle final, you could hear a pin drop. Hair stood to attention on the necks of a 17,000 capacity crowd in the city of his birth. Their young hero did not disappoint ...