| | Event type

4 × 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	Competitors	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 Lenton-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		–	–
	Marialaura Simonetto		–	–
	Cristina Chiuso		–	–
11	Sweden	SWE	3:40.52 (5 h2)	–
	Ida Mattsson-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

Date	9 August 2008
Format	Fastest eight teams advanced to final

Pos	Lane	Team	NOC	Time
1	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:36.78	Q
2	–	Germany	GER	3:37.52	Q
3	–	United States	USA	3:37.53	Q
4	–	Netherlands	NED	3:37.61	Q
5	–	France	FRA	3:37.76	Q
6	–	Australia	AUS	3:37.81	Q
7	–	Canada	CAN	3:38.82	Q
8	–	Great Britain	GBR	3:39.18	Q
9	–	Japan	JPN	3:39.25
10	–	Italy	ITA	3:40.42
11	–	Sweden	SWE	3:40.52
12	–	Russian Federation	RUS	3:42.52
13	–	Brazil	BRA	3:42.85
14	–	Ukraine	UKR	3:44.72
15	–	South Africa	RSA	3:51.14
DNS	–	Belarus	BLR	–		2

Heat #1

Time	20:51

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

Heat #2

Time	20:57

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

Final Round

Date	10 August 2008 — 11:31

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