| | Event type

4 x 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Women

Date	26 October 1968
Status	Olympic
Location	Alberca Olímpica Francisco Márquez, Ciudad de México
Participants	63 from 15 countries

The United States had swept the medals in the 100 metre freestyle and all three swimmers were on the 4 x 100 free relay team, making them prohibitive favorites. They were led off by Jane Barkman, bronze medalist in the 200 freestyle, and she put them ahead, over East German Gabriele Wetzko, 1:01.2 to 1:01.5. But after that came the three 100 medalists – Linda Gustavson, Sue Pedersen, and Jan Henne, and the East Germans could not stay in touch. The US won by over three seconds, with East Germany taking silver ahead of the Canadian team.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	Final
1	United States	USA	4:11.1 (1 h2)	4:02.5 (1)	Gold
	Jane Barkman • Linda Gustavson • Sue Pedersen • Jan Henne
2	East Germany	GDR	4:10.3 (1 h3)	4:05.7 (2)	Silver
	Gabriele Wetzko • Roswitha Krause • Uta Schmuck • Martina Grunert 1 • Gabriele Perthes
3	Canada	CAN	4:14.1 (2 h3)	4:07.2 (3)	Bronze
	Angela Coughlan • Marilyn Corson • Elaine Tanner • Marion Lay
4	Australia	AUS	4:12.0 (1 h1)	4:08.7 (4)
	Jenny Steinbeck • Sue Eddy • Lynne Watson • Lyn Bell • Julie McDonald
5	Hungary	HUN	4:13.6 (2 h2)	4:11.0 (5)
	Edit Kovács • Magdolna Patóh • Andrea Gyarmati • Judit Turóczy
6	Japan	JPN	4:14.5 (3 h2)	4:13.6 (6)
	Shigeko Kawanishi • Yoshimi Nishigawa • Yasuko Fujii • Miwako Kobayashi • Yumiko Ono
7	Great Britain	GBR	4:16.3 (3 h3)	4:18.0 (7)
	Shelagh Ratcliffe • Fiona Kellock • Sue Williams • Alex Jackson
AC r2/2	France	FRA	4:15.4 (2 h1)	– (DQ)		DQ
	Marie-José Kersaudy • Simone Hanner • Danièle Dorléans • Claude Mandonnaud
9	Netherlands	NED	4:16.7 (4 h2)	–
	Hella Rentema • Bep Weeteling • Mirjam van Hemert • Nel Bos
10	Soviet Union	URS	4:17.1 (3 h1)	–
	Zoya Dus • Tamara Sosnova • Nataliya Ustinova • Lidiya Grebets
11	Sweden	SWE	4:18.2 (4 h1)	–
	Elisabeth Berglund • Elisabeth Morris • Lotten Andersson • Ingrid Gustavsson
12	West Germany	FRG	4:19.4 (5 h1)	–
	Heidi Reineck • Aloisia Bauer • Ingeborg Renner • Helmi Boxberger
13	Mexico	MEX	4:21.9 (6 h1)	–
	María Teresa Ramírez • Laura Vaca • Marcia Arriaga • Norma Amezcua
14	Uruguay	URU	4:33.4 (4 h3)	–
	Mónica E. Figueroa • Ruth Apt • Felicia Ospitaletche • Lylián Castillo
15	El Salvador	ESA	4:39.8 (5 h2)	–
	María Moreno • Rosa Hasbún • Donatella Ferracuti • Carmen Ferracuti

Round One (26 October 1968 — 10:00)

Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Heat One

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Exchange (Pos)
1	6	Australia	AUS		4:12.0		Q
		Lyn Bell		–	1:02.2	1:02.2 (1)
		Julie McDonald		–	1:04.4	2:06.6 (1)
		Lynne Watson		–	1:03.2	3:09.8 (1)
		Jenny Steinbeck		–	1:02.2	4:12.0 (1)
2	3	France	FRA		4:15.4		Q
		Marie-José Kersaudy		–	1:05.1	1:05.1 (5)
		Simone Hanner		–	1:03.7	2:08.8 (2)
		Danièle Dorléans		–	1:01.0	3:09.8 (1)
		Claude Mandonnaud		–	1:05.6	4:15.4 (2)
3	4	Soviet Union	URS		4:17.1
		Zoya Dus		–	1:03.7	1:03.7 (4)
		Tamara Sosnova		–	1:06.0	2:09.7 (5)
		Nataliya Ustinova		–	1:03.9	3:13.6 (4)
		Lidiya Grebets		–	1:03.5	4:17.1 (3)
4	7	Sweden	SWE		4:18.2
		Elisabeth Berglund		–	1:03.6	1:03.6 (3)
		Elisabeth Morris		–	1:06.2	2:09.8 (6)
		Lotten Andersson		–	1:03.6	3:13.4 (3)
		Ingrid Gustavsson		–	1:04.8	4:18.2 (4)
5	2	West Germany	FRG		4:19.4
		Heidi Reineck		–	1:05.1	1:05.1 (5)
		Aloisia Bauer		–	1:04.2	2:09.3 (3)
		Ingeborg Renner		–	1:05.3	3:14.6 (5)
		Helmi Boxberger		–	1:04.8	4:19.4 (5)
6	5	Mexico	MEX		4:21.9
		María Teresa Ramírez		–	1:03.5	1:03.5 (2)
		Laura Vaca		–	1:06.0	2:09.5 (4)
		Marcia Arriaga		–	1:05.4	3:14.9 (6)
		Norma Amezcua		–	1:07.0	4:21.9 (6)

Heat Two

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Exchange (Pos)
1	4	United States	USA		4:11.1		Q
		Jane Barkman		–	1:01.9	1:01.9 (1)
		Linda Gustavson		–	1:02.2	2:04.1 (1)
		Jan Henne		–	1:01.0	3:05.1 (1)
		Sue Pedersen		–	1:06.0	4:11.1 (1)
2	5	Hungary	HUN		4:13.6		Q
		Edit Kovács		–	1:04.2	1:04.2 (3)
		Magdolna Patóh		–	1:02.7	2:06.9 (3)
		Andrea Gyarmati		–	1:04.2	3:11.1 (2)
		Judit Turóczy		–	1:02.5	4:13.6 (2)
3	3	Japan	JPN		4:14.5		Q
		Shigeko Kawanishi		–	1:03.1	1:03.1 (2)
		Yoshimi Nishigawa		–	1:03.7	2:06.8 (2)
		Yumiko Ono		–	1:04.8	3:11.6 (3)
		Miwako Kobayashi		–	1:02.9	4:14.5 (3)
4	2	Netherlands	NED		4:16.7
		Hella Rentema		–	1:05.1	1:05.1 (4)
		Bep Weeteling		–	1:05.8	2:10.9 (4)
		Mirjam van Hemert		–	1:03.6	3:14.5 (4)
		Nel Bos		–	1:02.2	4:16.7 (4)
5	6	El Salvador	ESA		4:39.8
		María Moreno		–	1:09.2	1:09.2 (5)
		Rosa Hasbún		–	1:11.0	2:20.2 (5)
		Donatella Ferracuti		–	1:10.3	3:30.5 (5)
		Carmen Ferracuti		–	1:09.3	4:39.8 (5)

Heat Three

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Exchange (Pos)
1	6	East Germany	GDR		4:10.3		Q
		Gabriele Wetzko		–	1:02.3	1:02.3 (1)
		Roswitha Krause		–	1:03.3	2:05.6 (1)
		Uta Schmuck		–	1:01.4	3:07.0 (1)
		Gabriele Perthes		–	1:03.3	4:10.3 (1)
2	5	Canada	CAN		4:14.1		Q
		Angela Coughlan		–	1:04.0	1:04.0 (2)
		Marilyn Corson		–	1:04.8	2:08.8 (2)
		Elaine Tanner		–	1:03.3	3:12.1 (2)
		Marion Lay		–	1:02.0	4:14.1 (2)
3	3	Great Britain	GBR		4:16.3		Q
		Shelagh Ratcliffe		–	1:04.7	1:04.7 (3)
		Fiona Kellock		–	1:04.8	2:09.5 (3)
		Sue Williams		–	1:04.8	3:14.3 (3)
		Alex Jackson		–	1:02.0	4:16.3 (3)
4	4	Uruguay	URU		4:33.4
		Mónica E. Figueroa		–	1:06.7	1:06.7 (4)
		Ruth Apt		–	1:06.9	2:13.6 (4)
		Felicia Ospitaletche		–	1:09.8	3:23.4 (4)
		Lylián Castillo		–	1:10.0	4:33.4 (4)

Final (26 October 1968 — 17:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Exchange (Pos)
1	5	United States	USA		4:02.5		OR
		Jane Barkman		–	1:01.2	1:01.2 (1)
		Linda Gustavson		–	1:00.5	2:01.7 (1)
		Sue Pedersen		–	1:01.3	3:03.0 (1)
		Jan Henne		–	59.5	4:02.5 (1)
2	4	East Germany	GDR		4:05.7
		Gabriele Wetzko		–	1:01.5	1:01.5 (2)
		Roswitha Krause		–	1:01.6	2:03.1 (2)
		Uta Schmuck		–	1:02.2	3:05.3 (2)
		Martina Grunert		–	1:00.4	4:05.7 (2)	2
3	2	Canada	CAN		4:07.2
		Angela Coughlan		–	1:02.4	1:02.4 (3)
		Marilyn Corson		–	1:03.6	2:06.0 (4)
		Elaine Tanner		–	1:01.7	3:07.7 (3)
		Marion Lay		–	59.5	4:07.2 (3)
4	3	Australia	AUS		4:08.7
		Jenny Steinbeck		–	1:02.7	1:02.7 (5)
		Sue Eddy		–	1:03.5	2:06.2 (5)
		Lynne Watson		–	1:01.6	3:07.8 (4)
		Lyn Bell		–	1:00.9	4:08.7 (4)
5	6	Hungary	HUN		4:11.0
		Edit Kovács		–	1:03.8	1:03.8 (6)
		Magdolna Patóh		–	1:02.7	2:06.5 (6)
		Andrea Gyarmati		–	1:02.6	3:09.1 (5)
		Judit Turóczy		–	1:01.9	4:11.0 (5)
6	7	Japan	JPN		4:13.6
		Shigeko Kawanishi		–	1:02.6	1:02.6 (4)
		Yoshimi Nishigawa		–	1:03.3	2:05.9 (3)
		Yasuko Fujii		–	1:05.1	3:11.0 (6)
		Miwako Kobayashi		–	1:02.6	4:13.6 (6)
7	8	Great Britain	GBR		4:18.0
		Shelagh Ratcliffe		–	1:05.2	1:05.2 (7)
		Fiona Kellock		–	1:04.8	2:10.0 (7)
		Sue Williams		–	1:04.9	3:14.9 (7)
		Alex Jackson		–	1:03.1	4:18.0 (7)
DQ	1	France	FRA		–
		Marie-José Kersaudy		–	1:05.3	1:05.3 (AC)
		Simone Hanner		–	1:03.1	2:08.4 (AC)
		Danièle Dorléans		–	1:04.3	3:12.7 (AC)
		Claude Mandonnaud		–	1:01.6	4:14.3 (AC)