Please read the following table in HTML format from a webpage and then answer the question in detail according to the table. Each table cell is defined by a <td> and a </td> tag. Each table row starts with a <tr> and ends with a </tr> tag. 'rowspan=m' and 'colspan=n' represents a cell spaning over 'm' rows and 'n' columns.

Webpage title:
Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 100 metre freestyle
Table title:
Final
Table:
<table id='hittask' contenteditable='False'>
<tr> <th colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Rank </th><th colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Lane </th><th colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Name </th><th colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Nationality </th><th colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Time </th><th colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Notes </th></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 >  </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 5 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Pieter van den Hoogenband </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Netherlands </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 48.17 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 >  </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 >  </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 4 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Roland Mark Schoeman </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > South Africa </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 48.23 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 >  </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 >  </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 8 </td><td class="highlighted"  colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Ian Thorpe </td><td class="highlighted"  colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Australia </td><td class="highlighted"  colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 48.56 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 >  </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 4 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 1 </td><td class="highlighted"  colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Ryk Neethling </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > South Africa </td><td class="highlighted"  colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 48.63 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 >  </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 5 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 3 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Filippo Magnini </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Italy </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 48.99 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 >  </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 6 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 7 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Duje Draganja </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Croatia </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 49.23 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 >  </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=2 > 7 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 2 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Salim Iles </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Algeria </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=2 > 49.30 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 >  </td></tr>
<tr> <td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > 6 </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Andrey Kapralov </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 > Russia </td><td colspan=1 rowspan=1 >  </td></tr>
</table>
Question:
How did Ian Thorpe perform compared to Ryk Neethling in the 2004 Summer Olympics Men's 100 metre freestyle?
Answer:
Australia's Ian Thorpe edged out Ryk Neethling with 48.56 and clinched a bronze medal by 0.07 of a second.