4 x 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Men
| Date | 25 – 26 July 2021 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Olympic Aquatics Centre, 2-1, 2chome, Tatsumi, Koto-ku, Tatsumi-no-Mori Seaside Park, Tokyo, Japan |
| Participants | 70 from 16 countries |
Although other nations had top sprinters, nobody had the depth of the United States and they were expected to win the gold medal. Held 12 times since 1964, the USA had won 9 of the 12 gold medals in the event, as Australia won in 2000, South Africa in 2004, and France in 2012. They had also won 5 of the last 8 World Championships in the event, with Australia winning in 2011 and France in 2013 and 2015.
In the preliminaries Italy qualified the fastest, as the USA finished second, although they had left off Caeleb Dressel, the dominant sprinter in Tokyo, saving him for the final. Australia was third and France fourth in the heats.
In the final Dressel led off for the Americans, putting them into the lead, 0.26 seconds ahead of France and Maxime Grousset. Blake Pieroni and Bowe Becker maintained the lead for the Americans as they led at every exchange. The anchor leg was swum by Zach Apple, who came home in 46.69, the second fastest leg of the relay, to secure gold for the USA.
Italy, which had been fourth in the early going, came on strong on the last two legs, swum by Lorenzo Zazzeri and Manuel Frigo, to win silver, just ahead of Australia. The Aussies had not been in medal contention for the first two legs, but Kyle Chalmers’ anchor of 46.44 was the fastest split in the event and brought them the bronze medal.
Round One (25 July 2021 — 20:30)
Heat One (20:30)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | 50 m | Time | Reaction | Exchange (Pos) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | Italy |  ITA | 3:10.29 | ||||||
| Alessandro Miressi | 22.80 | – | 0.70 | 47.46 (1) | ||||||
| Santo Condorelli | 22.66 | – | 0.33 | 1:35.36 (1) | ||||||
| Lorenzo Zazzeri | 22.16 | – | 0.31 | 2:22.65 (1) | ||||||
| Manuel Frigo | 22.65 | – | 0.30 | 3:10.29 (1) | ||||||
| 2 | 6 | France |  FRA | 3:12.35 | ||||||
| Clément Mignon | 23.15 | – | 0.59 | 48.58 (4) | ||||||
| Maxime Grousset | 22.54 | – | 0.46 | 1:35.99 (3) | ||||||
| Charles Rihoux | 22.65 | – | 0.15 | 2:24.26 (3) | ||||||
| Mehdy Metella | 22.70 | – | 0.30 | 3:12.35 (2) | ||||||
| 3 | 3 | Brazil |  BRA | 3:12.59 | ||||||
| Breno Correia | 23.45 | – | 0.62 | 48.67 (=6) | ||||||
| Pedro Spajari | 22.81 | – | 0.29 | 1:36.82 (6) | ||||||
| Gabriel Santos | 22.73 | – | 0.22 | 2:25.25 (5) | ||||||
| Marcelo Chierighini | 21.86 | – | 0.26 | 3:12.59 (3) | ||||||
| 4 | 4 | ROC |  ROC | 3:13.13 | ||||||
| Vladislav Grinev | 23.12 | – | 0.63 | 48.39 (2) | ||||||
| Andrey Minakov | 22.76 | – | 0.16 | 1:35.87 (2) | ||||||
| Vladimir Morozov | 22.39 | – | 0.27 | 2:24.00 (2) | ||||||
| Aleksandr Shchogolev | 22.90 | – | 0.32 | 3:13.13 (4) | ||||||
| 5 | 7 | Serbia |  SRB | 3:13.71 | ||||||
| Velimir Stjepanović | 23.52 | – | 0.62 | 48.74 (8) | ||||||
| Andrej Barna | 22.54 | – | 0.26 | 1:36.24 (4) | ||||||
| Uroš Nikolić | 23.25 | – | 0.25 | 2:25.18 (4) | ||||||
| Nikola Aćin | 22.57 | – | 0.19 | 3:13.71 (5) | ||||||
| 6 | 8 | Poland |  POL | 3:13.88 | ||||||
| Karol Ostrowski | 23.17 | – | 0.65 | 48.67 (=6) | ||||||
| Kacper Majchrzak | 23.34 | – | 0.14 | 1:37.69 (8) | ||||||
| Konrad Czerniak | 22.81 | – | 0.24 | 2:26.20 (7) | ||||||
| Jakub Kraska | 22.52 | – | 0.19 | 3:13.88 (6) | ||||||
| 7 | 1 | Japan |  JPN | 3:14.44 | ||||||
| Katsumi Nakamura | 23.43 | – | 0.71 | 48.56 (3) | ||||||
| Shinri Shioura | 23.04 | – | 0.25 | 1:37.19 (7) | ||||||
| Akira Namba | 22.51 | – | 0.24 | 2:25.85 (6) | ||||||
| Kaiya Seki | 23.18 | – | 0.15 | 3:14.44 (7) | ||||||
| 8 | 2 | Greece |  GRE | 3:15.29 | ||||||
| Andreas Vazaios | 23.90 | – | 0.63 | 48.65 (5) | ||||||
| Kristian Gkolomeev | 22.72 | – | 0.37 | 1:36.60 (5) | ||||||
| Odysseus Meladinis | 22.81 | – | 0.26 | 2:26.29 (8) | ||||||
| Apostolos Christou | 22.92 | – | 0.26 | 3:15.29 (8) |
Heat Two (20:40)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | 50 m | Time | Reaction | Exchange (Pos) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | United States |  USA | 3:11.33 | ||||||
| Brooks Curry | 23.21 | – | 0.60 | 48.84 (5) | ||||||
| Blake Pieroni | 22.72 | – | 0.32 | 1:36.55 (4) | ||||||
| Bowe Becker | 22.50 | – | 0.33 | 2:24.14 (1) | ||||||
| Zach Apple | 22.20 | – | 0.24 | 3:11.33 (1) | ||||||
| 2 | 5 | Australia |  AUS | 3:11.89 | ||||||
| Cameron McEvoy | 23.40 | – | 0.57 | 49.18 (8) | ||||||
| Zac Incerti | 22.52 | – | 0.05 | 1:36.82 (5) | ||||||
| Alex Graham | 23.35 | – | 0.16 | 2:25.26 (3) | ||||||
| Kyle Chalmers | 22.03 | – | 0.14 | 3:11.89 (2) | ||||||
| 3 | 6 | Hungary |  HUN | 3:12.73 | ||||||
| Kristóf Milák | 23.29 | – | 0.68 | 48.56 (4) | ||||||
| Szebasztián Szabó | 22.76 | – | 0.22 | 1:37.00 (6) | ||||||
| Richárd Bohus | 23.07 | – | 0.15 | 2:25.27 (4) | ||||||
| Nándor Németh | 22.85 | – | 0.11 | 3:12.73 (3) | ||||||
| 4 | 2 | Canada |  CAN | 3:13.00 | ||||||
| Brent Hayden | 23.01 | – | 0.69 | 48.51 (3) | ||||||
| Joshua Liendo | 22.56 | – | 0.09 | 1:36.18 (1) | ||||||
| Ruslan Gaziev | 23.01 | – | 0.17 | 2:25.22 (2) | ||||||
| Yuri Kisil | 22.68 | – | 0.15 | 3:13.00 (4) | ||||||
| 5 | 3 | Great Britain |  GBR | 3:13.17 | ||||||
| Matt Richards | 23.30 | – | 0.59 | 48.23 (1) | ||||||
| James Guy | 22.90 | – | 0.16 | 1:36.26 (2) | ||||||
| Joe Litchfield | 23.38 | – | 0.23 | 2:25.67 (5) | ||||||
| Jacob Whittle | 22.60 | – | 0.15 | 3:13.17 (5) | ||||||
| 6 | 1 | Netherlands |  NED | 3:14.07 | ||||||
| Nyls Korstanje | 23.37 | – | 0.63 | 49.15 (7) | ||||||
| Stan Pijnenburg | 22.49 | – | 0.23 | 1:36.50 (3) | ||||||
| Thom de Boer | 22.74 | – | 0.13 | 2:25.89 (6) | ||||||
| Jesse Puts | 22.55 | – | 0.17 | 3:14.07 (6) | ||||||
| 7 | 7 | Switzerland |  SUI | 3:14.65 | ||||||
| Roman Mityukov | 23.29 | – | 0.55 | 48.46 (2) | ||||||
| Nils Liess | 23.31 | – | 0.30 | 1:37.63 (7) | ||||||
| Noè Ponti | 23.26 | – | 0.18 | 2:26.25 (7) | ||||||
| Antonio Djakovic | 22.95 | – | 0.26 | 3:14.65 (7) | ||||||
| 8 | 8 | Germany |  GER | 3:15.34 | ||||||
| Damian Wierling | 23.68 | – | 0.66 | 48.96 (6) | ||||||
| Marius Kusch | 22.99 | – | 0.15 | 1:37.67 (8) | ||||||
| Christoph Fildebrandt | 23.07 | – | 0.04 | 2:26.39 (8) | ||||||
| Eric Friese | 23.18 | – | 0.31 | 3:15.34 (8) |
Final (26 July 2021 — 12:05)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | 50 m | Time | Reaction | Exchange (Pos) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | United States | USA | 3:08.97 | ||||||
| Caeleb Dressel | 22.24 | – | 0.61 | 47.26 (1) | ||||||
| Blake Pieroni | 22.49 | – | 0.25 | 1:34.84 (1) | ||||||
| Bowe Becker | 22.21 | – | 0.23 | 2:22.28 (1) | ||||||
| Zach Apple | 21.81 | – | 0.05 | 3:08.97 (1) | ||||||
| 2 | 4 | Italy | ITA | 3:10.11 | ||||||
| Alessandro Miressi | 22.77 | – | 0.70 | 47.72 (4) | ||||||
| Thomas Ceccon | 22.73 | – | 0.27 | 1:35.17 (3) | ||||||
| Lorenzo Zazzeri | 22.12 | – | 0.18 | 2:22.48 (2) | ||||||
| Manuel Frigo | 22.50 | – | 0.29 | 3:10.11 (2) | ||||||
| 3 | 3 | Australia | AUS | 3:10.22 | ||||||
| Matthew Temple | 23.25 | – | 0.61 | 48.07 (6) | ||||||
| Zac Incerti | 22.84 | – | 0.23 | 1:35.62 (5) | ||||||
| Alex Graham | 22.76 | – | 0.17 | 2:23.78 (6) | ||||||
| Kyle Chalmers | 22.23 | – | 0.28 | 3:10.22 (3) | ||||||
| 4 | 1 | Canada | CAN | 3:10.82 | ||||||
| Brent Hayden | 22.84 | – | 0.67 | 47.99 (5) | ||||||
| Joshua Liendo | 22.62 | – | 0.17 | 1:35.50 (4) | ||||||
| Yuri Kisil | 22.40 | – | 0.00 | 2:22.65 (3) | ||||||
| Markus Thormeyer | 22.63 | – | 0.07 | 3:10.82 (4) | ||||||
| 5 | 7 | Hungary | HUN | 3:11.06 | ||||||
| Kristóf Milák | 23.23 | – | 0.70 | 48.24 (7) | ||||||
| Szebasztián Szabó | 22.32 | – | 0.04 | 1:35.68 (7) | ||||||
| Richárd Bohus | 22.39 | – | 0.23 | 2:23.49 (5) | ||||||
| Nándor Németh | 22.85 | – | 0.12 | 3:11.06 (5) | ||||||
| 6 | 6 | France | FRA | 3:11.09 | ||||||
| Maxime Grousset | 22.81 | – | 0.62 | 47.52 (2) | ||||||
| Florent Manaudou | 22.10 | – | 0.07 | 1:35.14 (2) | ||||||
| Clément Mignon | 22.61 | – | 0.17 | 2:23.15 (4) | ||||||
| Mehdy Metella | 22.61 | – | 0.11 | 3:11.09 (6) | ||||||
| 7 | 8 | ROC | ROC | 3:12.20 | ||||||
| Andrey Minakov | 22.77 | – | 0.63 | 47.71 (3) | ||||||
| Vladislav Grinev | 22.47 | – | 0.08 | 1:35.65 (6) | ||||||
| Vladimir Morozov | 22.30 | – | 0.12 | 2:23.80 (7) | ||||||
| Kliment Kolesnikov | 22.94 | – | 0.30 | 3:12.20 (7) | ||||||
| 8 | 2 | Brazil | BRA | 3:13.41 | ||||||
| Breno Correia | 23.38 | – | 0.63 | 48.69 (8) | ||||||
| Pedro Spajari | 22.31 | – | 0.21 | 1:36.93 (8) | ||||||
| Gabriel Santos | 22.92 | – | 0.23 | 2:25.69 (8) | ||||||
| Marcelo Chierighini | 22.23 | – | 0.09 | 3:13.41 (8) |