| | Event type

4 x 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Women

Date	9 – 10 August 2008
Status	Olympic
Location	Beijing Guojia Youyong Zhongxin, Beijing Aolinpike Gongyuan, Beijing
Participants	67 from 15 countries

When you arrive at the Olympic Games as the holders of the world record it seems a little perverse that almost every expert should have you down as no better than prospective bronze medallists but, faced with the might of the US and Australian teams, that was the fate that apparently awaited the Dutch relay team. The final was difficult to follow as teams used the strongest swimmers at differing stages of the race. Germany and Great Britain used their best women first and led after the opening leg but soon they faded and, with strong performances from the second and third swimmers, the Netherlands handed a healthy lead onto their anchor leg swimmer, Marleen Veldhuis. Australia and the USA attempted to claw back the gap but could make no more than token inroads into the Dutch lead. The Americans, with 41 year old Dara Torres on the final leg held off the challenge of the world champion Aussies to place second.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	Final
1	Netherlands	NED	3:37.61 (2 h2)	3:33.76 (1)	Gold
	Inge Dekker • Ranomi Kromowidjojo • Femke Heemskerk • Marleen Veldhuis • Hinkelien Schreuder • Manon van Rooijen
2	United States	USA	3:37.53 (1 h2)	3:34.33 (2)	Silver
	Natalie Coughlin • Lacey Nymeyer • Kara Lynn Joyce • Dara Torres • Julia Smit • Emily Silver
3	Australia	AUS	3:37.81 (3 h1)	3:35.05 (3)	Bronze
	Cate Campbell • Alice Mills • Mel Schlanger • Libby Trickett • Shayne Reese
4	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:36.78 (1 h1)	3:35.64 (4)
	Zhu Yingwen • Tang Yi • Xu Yanwei • Pang Jiaying
5	Germany	GER	3:37.52 (2 h1)	3:36.85 (5)
	Britta Steffen • Meike Freitag • Daniela Götz • Antje Buschschulte
6	France	FRA	3:37.76 (3 h2)	3:37.68 (6)
	Céline Couderc • Alena Popchanka • Ophélie Etienne • Malia Metella • Hanna Shcherba-Lorgeril
7	Great Britain	GBR	3:39.18 (4 h1)	3:38.18 (7)
	Fran Halsall • Caitlin McClatchey • Jess Sylvester • Melanie Marshall • Julia Beckett
8	Canada	CAN	3:38.82 (4 h2)	3:38.32 (8)
	Julia Wilkinson • Erica Morningstar • Geneviève Saumur • Audrey Lacroix
9	Japan	JPN	3:39.25 (5 h1)	–
	Haruka Ueda • Misaki Yamaguchi • Asami Kitagawa • Maki Mita
10	Italy	ITA	3:40.42 (6 h1)	–
	Erika Ferraioli • Federica Pellegrini • Maria Laura Simonetto • Cristina Chiuso
11	Sweden	SWE	3:40.52 (5 h2)	–
	Ida Marko-Varga • Therèse Alshammar • Anna-Karin Kammerling • Claire Hedenskog
12	Russian Federation	RUS	3:42.52 (7 h1)	–
	Anastasiya Aksenova • Yelena Sokolova • Darya Belyakina • Svetlana Karpeyeva
13	Brazil	BRA	3:42.85 (8 h1)	–
	Tatiana Lemos • Flávia Delaroli • Michelle Lenhardt • Monique Ferreira
14	Ukraine	UKR	3:44.72 (6 h2)	–
	Dar'ia Stepaniuk • Kateryna Dikidzhi • Hanna Dzerkal • Nataliya Khudiakova
15	South Africa	RSA	3:51.14 (7 h2)	–
	Melissa Corfe • Wendy Trott • Mandy Loots • Kathryn Meaklim
DNS	Belarus	BLR	– (DNS h2)	–		1

Round One (9 August 2008)

Fastest eight teams advanced to final

Heat One (20:51)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction	Exchange (Pos)
1	3	People's Republic of China	CHN		3:36.78			Q
		Zhu Yingwen		26.56	54.53	0.84	54.53 (=2)
		Tang Yi		25.98	54.29	0.32	1:48.82 (=2)
		Xu Yanwei		26.46	55.13	0.25	2:43.95 (4)
		Pang Jiaying		25.41	52.83	0.30	3:36.78 (1)
2	5	Germany	GER		3:37.52			Q
		Meike Freitag		26.32	54.53	0.79	54.53 (=2)
		Antje Buschschulte		25.92	54.29	0.22	1:48.82 (=2)
		Daniela Götz		25.59	54.54	0.15	2:43.36 (1)
		Britta Steffen		25.98	54.16	0.47	3:37.52 (2)
3	4	Australia	AUS		3:37.81			Q
		Cate Campbell		26.51	54.65	0.85	54.65 (4)
		Alice Mills		25.87	54.55	0.34	1:49.20 (4)
		Mel Schlanger		26.53	54.69	0.12	2:43.89 (3)
		Shayne Reese		25.69	53.92	0.44	3:37.81 (3)
4	6	Great Britain	GBR		3:39.18			Q
		Fran Halsall		26.39	54.36	0.74	54.36 (1)
		Caitlin McClatchey		26.36	54.42	0.28	1:48.78 (1)
		Julia Beckett		26.45	55.64	0.31	2:44.42 (5)
		Melanie Marshall		26.22	54.76	0.25	3:39.18 (4)
5	1	Japan	JPN		3:39.25
		Haruka Ueda		26.88	55.13	0.84	55.13 (6)
		Misaki Yamaguchi		25.97	54.14	0.09	1:49.27 (5)
		Asami Kitagawa		26.10	54.47	0.25	2:43.74 (2)
		Maki Mita		26.66	55.51	0.29	3:39.25 (5)
6	8	Italy	ITA		3:40.42
		Erika Ferraioli		26.89	56.10	0.78	56.10 (7)
		Federica Pellegrini		25.86	53.42	0.29	1:49.52 (6)
		Maria Laura Simonetto		26.49	55.97	0.13	2:45.49 (6)
		Cristina Chiuso		25.67	54.93	0.02	3:40.42 (6)
7	2	Russian Federation	RUS		3:42.52
		Anastasiya Aksenova		27.15	56.57	0.84	56.57 (8)
		Yelena Sokolova		26.38	55.20	0.20	1:51.77 (8)
		Darya Belyakina		26.26	55.23	0.16	2:47.00 (7)
		Svetlana Karpeyeva		26.36	55.52	0.17	3:42.52 (7)
8	7	Brazil	BRA		3:42.85
		Tatiana Lemos		26.78	55.08	0.80	55.08 (5)
		Flávia Delaroli		26.40	56.13	0.36	1:51.21 (7)
		Michelle Lenhardt		26.54	55.90	0.20	2:47.11 (8)
		Monique Ferreira		26.36	55.74	0.01	3:42.85 (8)

Heat Two (20:57)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction	Exchange (Pos)
1	5	United States	USA		3:37.53			Q
		Kara Lynn Joyce		26.22	54.13	0.74	54.13 (2)
		Julia Smit		26.18	54.73	0.20	1:48.86 (=1)
		Emily Silver		26.26	54.81	0.33	2:43.67 (3)
		Lacey Nymeyer		26.02	53.86	0.28	3:37.53 (1)
2	4	Netherlands	NED		3:37.61			Q
		Ranomi Kromowidjojo		26.08	54.41	0.82	54.41 (3)
		Hinkelien Schreuder		25.83	55.31	0.47	1:49.72 (4)
		Femke Heemskerk		25.51	53.58	0.27	2:43.30 (1)
		Manon van Rooijen		25.86	54.31	0.33	3:37.61 (2)
3	6	France	FRA		3:37.76			Q
		Céline Couderc		25.86	53.97	0.79	53.97 (1)
		Hanna Shcherba-Lorgeril		26.42	54.95	0.25	1:48.92 (3)
		Ophélie Etienne		26.42	54.72	0.29	2:43.64 (2)
		Alena Popchanka		26.07	54.12	0.41	3:37.76 (3)
4	2	Canada	CAN		3:38.82			Q
		Julia Wilkinson		26.67	54.48	0.79	54.48 (4)
		Erica Morningstar		25.63	54.38	0.28	1:48.86 (=1)
		Geneviève Saumur		26.32	55.11	0.44	2:43.97 (4)
		Audrey Lacroix		25.95	54.85	0.19	3:38.82 (4)
5	3	Sweden	SWE		3:40.52
		Ida Marko-Varga		26.69	55.04	0.85	55.04 (5)
		Therèse Alshammar		25.37	54.80	0.23	1:49.84 (5)
		Anna-Karin Kammerling		25.72	55.06	0.33	2:44.90 (5)
		Claire Hedenskog		25.94	55.62	0.35	3:40.52 (5)
6	1	Ukraine	UKR		3:44.72
		Dar'ia Stepaniuk		27.05	55.79	0.82	55.79 (6)
		Kateryna Dikidzhi		26.43	55.44	0.42	1:51.23 (6)
		Hanna Dzerkal		26.95	56.95	0.52	2:48.18 (6)
		Nataliya Khudiakova		26.71	56.54	0.10	3:44.72 (6)
7	7	South Africa	RSA		3:51.14
		Melissa Corfe		26.85	55.93	0.70	55.93 (7)
		Wendy Trott		27.80	57.83	0.32	1:53.76 (7)
		Mandy Loots		27.47	58.31	0.34	2:52.07 (7)
		Kathryn Meaklim		28.14	59.07	0.39	3:51.14 (7)
DNS	8	Belarus	BLR		–				2

Final (10 August 2008 — 11:31)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction	Exchange (Pos)
1	6	Netherlands	NED		3:33.76			OR
		Inge Dekker		26.11	54.37	0.84	54.37 (7)
		Ranomi Kromowidjojo		25.14	53.39	0.27	1:47.76 (2)
		Femke Heemskerk		25.35	53.42	0.37	2:41.18 (1)
		Marleen Veldhuis		24.61	52.58	0.21	3:33.76 (1)
2	3	United States	USA		3:34.33
		Natalie Coughlin		25.74	54.00	0.68	54.00 (3)
		Lacey Nymeyer		25.77	53.91	0.25	1:47.91 (3)
		Kara Lynn Joyce		25.76	53.98	0.27	2:41.89 (2)
		Dara Torres		24.99	52.44	0.15	3:34.33 (2)
3	7	Australia	AUS		3:35.05
		Cate Campbell		25.89	54.43	0.80	54.43 (8)
		Alice Mills		25.66	54.43	0.19	1:48.86 (=7)
		Mel Schlanger		26.05	53.85	0.17	2:42.71 (3)
		Libby Trickett		25.04	52.34	0.21	3:35.05 (3)
4	4	People's Republic of China	CHN		3:35.64
		Zhu Yingwen		26.15	54.12	0.79	54.12 (4)
		Tang Yi		26.09	54.19	0.34	1:48.31 (5)
		Xu Yanwei		25.71	54.64	0.11	2:42.95 (4)
		Pang Jiaying		25.40	52.69	0.11	3:35.64 (4)
5	5	Germany	GER		3:36.85
		Britta Steffen		25.91	53.38	0.78	53.38 (1)
		Meike Freitag		26.01	54.30	0.23	1:47.68 (1)
		Daniela Götz		25.74	55.34	0.28	2:43.02 (5)
		Antje Buschschulte		25.72	53.83	0.06	3:36.85 (5)
6	2	France	FRA		3:37.68
		Céline Couderc		26.12	54.32	0.81	54.32 (5)
		Alena Popchanka		26.33	54.54	0.27	1:48.86 (=7)
		Ophélie Etienne		26.40	54.79	0.25	2:43.65 (8)
		Malia Metella		25.58	54.03	0.14	3:37.68 (6)
7	8	Great Britain	GBR		3:38.18
		Fran Halsall		25.99	53.81	0.72	53.81 (2)
		Caitlin McClatchey		26.12	54.48	0.30	1:48.29 (4)
		Jess Sylvester		26.41	55.34	0.30	2:43.63 (7)
		Melanie Marshall		25.89	54.55	0.07	3:38.18 (7)
8	1	Canada	CAN		3:38.32
		Julia Wilkinson		26.40	54.33	0.77	54.33 (6)
		Erica Morningstar		25.55	54.35	0.19	1:48.68 (6)
		Geneviève Saumur		26.11	54.68	0.27	2:43.36 (6)
		Audrey Lacroix		25.97	54.96	0.19	3:38.32 (8)