4 x 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Women

Historically the women’s relay had been dominated by the United States who had won the gold each time they had contested it and always in a world record time. In 1936 the US team came into the Games without the world record to their name, that record belonged to the exact Dutch quartet that were selected for Berlin. The final developed into a duel between the host nation, Germany, and the Netherlands. Although only one of the German team had qualified from the heats of the individual event, they stayed with the Dutch and even held a small lead at the 200m mark. The Netherlands still had their two strongest swimmers to go and Willy den Ouden overhauled Inge Schmitz on the third leg to hand over to 100m champion Rie Mastenbroek in first leg. Throughout the final leg Germany’s Gisele Arendt threatened the leader but Mastenbroek’s familiar finishing took her to a narrow victory