| | Event type

4 x 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Women

Date	4 – 6 August 1948
Status	Olympic
Location	Wembley Arena, Wembley, London
Participants	46 from 11 countries

After the individual 100m had been decided it seemed logical that the medals would be decided between four teams, Denmark, the USA, the Netherlands and Sweden. With a rejuvenated Greta Andersen included in their line-up, the Danes found themselves battling the Dutch for the gold medal as the last leg swimmers got under way. The United States and Great Britain trailed and appeared to be fighting only for the bronze but the last American swimmer was Ann Curtis. Curtis soon moved away from her British rival and began to make headway on the leaders. With just 15 metres to go she overtook the Dutch swimmer and with the crowd cheering wildly edged ever closer to Fritze Carstensen of Denmark. With a desperate final sprint Curtis touched the wall ahead of the Dane to break the Olympic record and clinch the championship. Curtis’ time of 1:04.4 was the fastest ever recorded though it could not be ratified as a world record because only the first leg of a relay is allowed to stand for record purposes

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	Final
1	United States	USA	4:34.1 (2 h1)	4:29.2 (1)	Gold
	Marie Corridon • Thelma Kalama • Brenda Helser • Ann Curtis • Jackie LaVine (DNS) • Pat Healy (DNS)
2	Denmark	DEN	4:33.5 (1 h1)	4:29.6 (2)	Silver
	Eva Riise • Karen Margrethe Harup • Greta Andersen • Fritze Carstensen • Elvi Svendsen • Gunvor Kraft-Borup (DNS)
3	Netherlands	NED	4:31.3 (1 h2)	4:31.6 (3)	Bronze
	Irma Schuhmacher • Margot Marsman • Marie-Louise Vaessen • Hannie Termeulen • Wil Langerveld (DNS)
4	Great Britain	GBR	4:36.1 (3 h1)	4:34.7 (4)
	Pat Nielsen • Margaret Wellington • Lillian Preece • Cathie Gibson • Margaret Girvan (DNS) • Margaret Linton (DNS)
5	Hungary	HUN	4:47.5 (3 h2)	4:44.8 (5)
	Mária Littomeritzky • Ilona Novák • Judit Temes • Éva Székely • Éva Novák (DNS) • Zsuzsa Nádor (DNS)
6	Brazil	BRA	4:51.4 (4 h2)	4:49.1 (6)
	Eleonora Schmitt • Maria da Costa • Talita Rodrígues • Piedade Coutinho-Tavares • Edith de Oliveira (DNS)
7	France	FRA	4:50.0 (4 h1)	4:49.8 (7)
	Josette Arène • Gisèle Vallerey • Colette Thomas • Ginette Jany • Marie Foucher-Creteau • Huguette Chaleix (DNS)
AC r2/2	Sweden	SWE	4:38.5 (2 h2)	– (DQ)		DQ
	Gisela Thidholm • Elisabeth Ahlgren • Marianne Lundquist • Ingegärd Fredin • Maj-Britt Ohlsson (DNS)
5 h1 r1/2	Argentina	ARG	4:59.5 (5 h1)	–
	Enriqueta Duarte • Liliana Gonzalías • Adriana Camelli • Eileen Holt
5 h2 r1/2	Belgium	BEL	4:54.9 (5 h2)	–
	Maria Huybrechts • Maria Oeyen • Maria Van den Brande • Fernande Caroen • Irène Possemiers (DNS) • Angèle de Graef (DNS)
6 h1 r1/2	Canada	CAN	5:04.5 (6 h1)	–
	Kay McNamee • Joyce Court • Vivian King • Irene Strong

Round One (4 August 1948 — 15:30)

Top three in each heat and the next two fastest advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Exchange (Pos)
1	2	Denmark	DEN		4:33.5	QOR
		Eva Riise		–	– (–)
		Elvi Svendsen		–	– (–)
		Fritze Carstensen		–	– (–)
		Greta Andersen		–	– (–)
2	7	United States	USA		4:34.1	Q
		Marie Corridon		–	– (–)
		Thelma Kalama		–	– (–)
		Brenda Helser		–	– (–)
		Ann Curtis		–	– (–)
3	4	Great Britain	GBR		4:36.1	Q
		Margaret Wellington		–	– (–)
		Pat Nielsen		–	– (–)
		Lillian Preece		–	– (–)
		Cathie Gibson		–	– (–)
4	5	France	FRA		4:50.0	q
		Josette Arène		–	– (–)
		Colette Thomas		–	– (–)
		Marie Foucher-Creteau		–	– (–)
		Ginette Jany		–	– (–)
5	3	Argentina	ARG		4:59.5
		Enriqueta Duarte		–	– (–)
		Liliana Gonzalías		–	– (–)
		Adriana Camelli		–	– (–)
		Eileen Holt		–	– (–)
6	6	Canada	CAN		5:04.5
		Kay McNamee		–	– (–)
		Joyce Court		–	– (–)
		Vivian King		–	– (–)
		Irene Strong		–	– (–)

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Exchange (Pos)
1	4	Netherlands	NED		4:31.3	QOR
		Irma Schuhmacher		–	– (–)
		Margot Marsman		–	– (–)
		Marie-Louise Vaessen		–	– (–)
		Hannie Termeulen		–	– (–)
2	3	Sweden	SWE		4:38.5	Q
		Marianne Lundquist		–	– (–)
		Gisela Thidholm		–	– (–)
		Elisabeth Ahlgren		–	– (–)
		Ingegärd Fredin		–	– (–)
3	6	Hungary	HUN		4:47.5	Q
		Mária Littomeritzky		–	– (–)
		Judit Temes		–	– (–)
		Éva Székely		–	– (–)
		Ilona Novák		–	– (–)
4	5	Brazil	BRA		4:51.4	q
		Eleonora Schmitt		–	– (–)
		Maria da Costa		–	– (–)
		Talita Rodrígues		–	– (–)
		Piedade Coutinho-Tavares		–	– (–)
5	2	Belgium	BEL		4:54.9
		Maria Huybrechts		–	– (–)
		Maria Oeyen		–	– (–)
		Maria Van den Brande		–	– (–)
		Fernande Caroen		–	– (–)

Final (6 August 1948 — 21:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	Time	Exchange (Pos)
1	6	United States	USA		4:29.2	OR
		Marie Corridon		–	– (–)
		Thelma Kalama		–	– (–)
		Brenda Helser		–	– (–)
		Ann Curtis		–	– (–)
2	4	Denmark	DEN		4:29.6
		Eva Riise		–	– (–)
		Karen Margrethe Harup		–	– (–)
		Greta Andersen		–	– (–)
		Fritze Carstensen		–	– (–)
3	5	Netherlands	NED		4:31.6
		Irma Schuhmacher		–	– (–)
		Margot Marsman		–	– (–)
		Marie-Louise Vaessen		–	– (–)
		Hannie Termeulen		–	– (–)
4	3	Great Britain	GBR		4:34.7
		Pat Nielsen		–	– (–)
		Margaret Wellington		–	– (–)
		Lillian Preece		–	– (–)
		Cathie Gibson		–	– (–)
5	2	Hungary	HUN		4:44.8
		Mária Littomeritzky		–	– (–)
		Ilona Novák		–	– (–)
		Judit Temes		–	– (–)
		Éva Székely		–	– (–)
6	1	Brazil	BRA		4:49.1
		Eleonora Schmitt		–	– (–)
		Maria da Costa		–	– (–)
		Talita Rodrígues		–	– (–)
		Piedade Coutinho-Tavares		–	– (–)
7	8	France	FRA		4:49.8
		Josette Arène		–	– (–)
		Gisèle Vallerey		–	– (–)
		Colette Thomas		–	– (–)
		Ginette Jany		–	– (–)
DQ	7	Sweden	SWE		–
		Gisela Thidholm		–	– (–)
		Elisabeth Ahlgren		–	– (–)
		Marianne Lundquist		–	– (–)
		Ingegärd Fredin		–	– (–)