| | Event type

4 x 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Men

Date	29 July 2012
Status	Olympic
Location	London Aquatics Centre, Olympic Park, Stratford, London
Participants	71 from 15 countries

At Beijing France had been expected to win gold but were beaten on the anchor leg by the United States’ team. The defeat stung and they did not forget it. In the final Nathan Adrian, who would later win the 100 free, gave the US the lead, swimming the only sub-48 second opener. Australia was second, which was disappointing as they opened with 2011 100 free World Champion James Magnussen. Australia would fall back and the race would be between the USA and France.

On the second leg Michael Phelps kept the US in the lead and Cullen Jones extended that on the third leg. The anchor swimmers were France’s Yannick Agnel and American Ryan Lochte. They had swim earlier in the night in the 200 free with Agnel winning and Lochte placing fourth. Lochte was definitely stronger but not well-known as a sprinter and the question was if he could hold off Agnel.

The answer was no. Agnel closed quickly and won gold for France in 3:09.93, with Lochte coming home in 3:10.38 for the silver medal. Russia won a surprising bronze medal as they finished just ahead of Australia. For Phelps it was his 17th Olympic medal ever, and his first in London, but it was his first ever Olympic silver medal, after 14 golds, and two bronzes.

Pos	Swimmer	NOC	R1	Final
1	France	FRA	3:13.38 (1 h1)	3:09.93 (1)	Gold
	Amaury Leveaux • Fabien Gilot • Clément Lefert • Yannick Agnel • Alain Bernard • Jérémy Stravius
2	United States	USA	3:12.59 (2 h2)	3:10.38 (2)	Silver
	Nathan Adrian • Michael Phelps • Cullen Jones • Ryan Lochte • Jimmy Feigen • Matt Grevers • Ricky Berens • Jason Lezak
3	Russian Federation	RUS	3:12.77 (3 h2)	3:11.41 (3)	Bronze
	Andrey Grechin • Nikita Lobintsev • Vladimir Morozov • Dan Izotov • Yevgeny Lagunov • Sergey Fesikov
4	Australia	AUS	3:12.29 (1 h2)	3:11.63 (4)
	James Magnussen • Matt Targett • Eamon Sullivan • James Roberts • Cameron McEvoy • Tommaso D'Orsogna
5	South Africa	RSA	3:13.93 (2 h1)	3:13.45 (5)
	Gideon Louw • Darian Townsend • Graeme Moore • Roland Schoeman
6	Germany	GER	3:13.51 (4 h2)	3:13.52 (6)
	Benjamin Starke • Markus Deibler • Christoph Fildebrandt • Marco di Carli
7	Italy	ITA	3:15.78 (3 h1)	3:14.13 (7)
	Luca Dotto • Marco Orsi • Michele Santucci • Filippo Magnini • Andrea Rolla
8	Belgium	BEL	3:13.89 (5 h2)	3:14.40 (8)
	Dieter Dekoninck • Jasper Aerents • Emmanuel Vanluchene • Pieter Timmers
9	Brazil	BRA	3:16.14 (4 h1)	–
	Nicolas Oliveira • Bruno Fratus • Nicholas Santos • Marcelo Chierighini
10	Canada	CAN	3:16.42 (5 h1)	–
	Brent Hayden • Colin Russell • Richard Hortness • Thomas Gossland
11	People's Republic of China	CHN	3:17.00 (6 h2)	–
	Lu Zhiwu • Zhang Enjian • He Jianbin • Shi Tengfei
12	Great Britain	GBR	3:17.08 (6 h1)	–
	Simon Burnett • Grant Turner • James Disney-May • Craig Gibbons
13	Serbia	SRB	3:18.79 (7 h2)	–
	Milorad Čavić • Velimir Stjepanović • Ivan Lenđer • Radovan Siljevski
14	Hungary	HUN	3:21.91 (8 h2)	–
	Péter Bernek • Gergő Kis • Gábor Balog • Krisztián Takács
15	Venezuela	VEN	3:22.68 (7 h1)	–
	Cristian Quintero • Octavio Alesi • Marcos Lavado • Crox Acuña

Round One (29 July 2012 — 11:56)

Fastest eight teams advanced to final

Heat One (11:56)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction	Exchange (Pos)
1	4	France	FRA		3:13.38			Q
		Amaury Leveaux		23.76	48.61	0.75	48.61 (2)
		Alain Bernard		23.03	48.31	0.30	1:36.92 (1)
		Clément Lefert		22.44	48.14	0.16	2:25.06 (1)
		Jérémy Stravius		23.09	48.32	0.37	3:13.38 (1)
2	3	South Africa	RSA		3:13.93			Q
		Roland Schoeman		23.13	49.00	0.61	49.00 (3)
		Darian Townsend		22.57	48.26	0.09	1:37.26 (3)
		Gideon Louw		22.44	47.92	0.17	2:25.18 (2)
		Graeme Moore		22.99	48.75	0.15	3:13.93 (2)
3	5	Italy	ITA		3:15.78			Q
		Luca Dotto		23.42	49.27	0.80	49.27 (4)
		Andrea Rolla		23.20	49.46	0.34	1:38.73 (5)
		Michele Santucci		23.52	48.85	0.13	2:27.58 (4)
		Filippo Magnini		23.05	48.20	0.12	3:15.78 (3)
4	2	Brazil	BRA		3:16.14
		Nicolas Oliveira		23.71	49.31	0.68	49.31 (5)
		Bruno Fratus		23.08	48.98	0.21	1:38.29 (4)
		Nicholas Santos		23.19	49.68	0.07	2:27.97 (6)
		Marcelo Chierighini		23.03	48.17	0.18	3:16.14 (4)
5	7	Canada	CAN		3:16.42
		Brent Hayden		23.34	48.42	0.67	48.42 (1)
		Colin Russell		23.19	48.67	0.10	1:37.09 (2)
		Richard Hortness		23.12	49.12	0.34	2:26.21 (3)
		Thomas Gossland		23.46	50.21	0.03	3:16.42 (5)
6	6	Great Britain	GBR		3:17.08
		Simon Burnett		23.92	50.47	0.66	50.47 (7)
		Grant Turner		22.53	48.31	0.20	1:38.78 (6)
		James Disney-May		22.76	48.99	0.10	2:27.77 (5)
		Craig Gibbons		23.19	49.31	0.05	3:17.08 (6)
7	1	Venezuela	VEN		3:22.68
		Cristian Quintero		23.97	49.77	0.71	49.77 (6)
		Octavio Alesi		23.27	50.04	0.40	1:39.81 (7)
		Marcos Lavado		26.64	52.59	0.36	2:32.40 (7)
		Crox Acuña		23.74	50.28	0.21	3:22.68 (7)

Heat Two (12:01)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction	Exchange (Pos)
1	4	Australia	AUS		3:12.29			Q
		Cameron McEvoy		23.12	48.94	0.60	48.94 (6)
		James Roberts		22.69	48.22	0.26	1:37.16 (4)
		Tommaso D'Orsogna		22.83	47.78	0.32	2:24.94 (2)
		James Magnussen		22.86	47.35	0.39	3:12.29 (1)
2	5	United States	USA		3:12.59			Q
		Jimmy Feigen		23.20	48.49	0.67	48.49 (2)
		Matt Grevers		22.07	47.54	0.23	1:36.03 (1)
		Ricky Berens		23.45	48.52	0.17	2:24.55 (1)
		Jason Lezak		23.05	48.04	0.33	3:12.59 (2)
3	3	Russian Federation	RUS		3:12.77			Q
		Andrey Grechin		22.81	48.19	0.73	48.19 (1)
		Yevgeny Lagunov		22.82	48.34	0.23	1:36.53 (2)
		Sergey Fesikov		22.90	48.68	0.25	2:25.21 (3)
		Nikita Lobintsev		22.43	47.56	0.35	3:12.77 (3)
4	6	Germany	GER		3:13.51			Q
		Benjamin Starke		23.57	48.96	0.74	48.96 (7)
		Markus Deibler		22.42	47.99	0.35	1:36.95 (3)
		Christoph Fildebrandt		22.76	48.44	0.19	2:25.39 (4)
		Marco di Carli		22.71	48.12	0.31	3:13.51 (4)
5	2	Belgium	BEL		3:13.89			Q
		Dieter Dekoninck		23.42	48.79	0.64	48.79 (4)
		Jasper Aerents		22.99	48.58	0.25	1:37.37 (5)
		Emmanuel Vanluchene		23.04	48.55	0.27	2:25.92 (5)
		Pieter Timmers		22.85	47.97	0.20	3:13.89 (5)
6	1	People's Republic of China	CHN		3:17.00
		Lu Zhiwu		23.77	48.92	0.66	48.92 (5)
		Zhang Enjian		23.35	49.57	0.18	1:38.49 (7)
		He Jianbin		23.58	49.67	0.15	2:28.16 (6)
		Shi Tengfei		22.63	48.84	0.20	3:17.00 (6)
7	8	Serbia	SRB		3:18.79
		Milorad Čavić		23.29	48.61	0.70	48.61 (3)
		Velimir Stjepanović		23.27	49.13	0.28	1:37.74 (6)
		Ivan Lenđer		23.57	50.58	0.30	2:28.32 (7)
		Radovan Siljevski		23.87	50.47	0.34	3:18.79 (7)
8	7	Hungary	HUN		3:21.91
		Péter Bernek		24.09	50.29	0.77	50.29 (8)
		Gergő Kis		23.57	50.68	0.17	1:40.97 (8)
		Gábor Balog		24.60	51.47	0.33	2:32.44 (8)
		Krisztián Takács		23.21	49.47	0.16	3:21.91 (8)

Final (29 July 2012 — 21:00)

Pos	Lane	Swimmer	NOC	50 m	Time	Reaction	Exchange (Pos)
1	6	France	FRA		3:09.93
		Amaury Leveaux		23.43	48.13	0.73	48.13 (3)
		Fabien Gilot		22.53	47.67	0.21	1:35.80 (2)
		Clément Lefert		22.09	47.39	0.13	2:23.19 (2)
		Yannick Agnel		22.14	46.74	0.15	3:09.93 (1)
2	5	United States	USA		3:10.38
		Nathan Adrian		22.76	47.89	0.65	47.89 (1)
		Michael Phelps		22.63	47.15	0.19	1:35.04 (1)
		Cullen Jones		22.07	47.60	0.28	2:22.64 (1)
		Ryan Lochte		22.39	47.74	0.11	3:10.38 (2)
3	3	Russian Federation	RUS		3:11.41
		Andrey Grechin		22.96	48.57	0.73	48.57 (5)
		Nikita Lobintsev		22.31	47.39	0.14	1:35.96 (4)
		Vladimir Morozov		22.75	47.85	0.32	2:23.81 (4)
		Dan Izotov		22.68	47.60	0.26	3:11.41 (3)
4	4	Australia	AUS		3:11.63
		James Magnussen		22.95	48.03	0.68	48.03 (2)
		Matt Targett		22.62	47.83	0.14	1:35.86 (3)
		Eamon Sullivan		22.26	47.68	0.14	2:23.54 (3)
		James Roberts		23.10	48.09	0.26	3:11.63 (4)
5	1	South Africa	RSA		3:13.45
		Gideon Louw		22.92	48.48	0.73	48.48 (4)
		Darian Townsend		22.63	48.36	0.26	1:36.84 (5)
		Graeme Moore		22.45	48.34	0.13	2:25.18 (5)
		Roland Schoeman		22.68	48.27	0.10	3:13.45 (5)
6	2	Germany	GER		3:13.52
		Benjamin Starke		23.48	49.03	0.72	49.03 (7)
		Markus Deibler		22.65	47.97	0.30	1:37.00 (6)
		Christoph Fildebrandt		23.16	48.45	0.28	2:25.45 (6)
		Marco di Carli		23.02	48.07	0.23	3:13.52 (6)
7	8	Italy	ITA		3:14.13
		Luca Dotto		23.07	48.73	0.66	48.73 (6)
		Marco Orsi		22.88	48.42	0.12	1:37.15 (7)
		Michele Santucci		23.22	48.88	0.20	2:26.03 (7)
		Filippo Magnini		23.00	48.10	0.17	3:14.13 (7)
8	7	Belgium	BEL		3:14.40
		Dieter Dekoninck		23.64	49.42	0.64	49.42 (8)
		Jasper Aerents		22.63	48.34	0.22	1:37.76 (8)
		Emmanuel Vanluchene		23.08	48.46	0.21	2:26.22 (8)
		Pieter Timmers		23.35	48.18	0.15	3:14.40 (8)