| | Event type

4 × 200 metres Freestyle Relay, Women

Date	10 August 2016
Status	Olympic
Location	Estádio Aquático Olímpico, Parque Olímpico da Barra, Barra da Tijuca, Rio de Janeiro
Participants	73 from 16 countries

The United States seemed to have an unbeatable team, led by Katie Ledecky, with the 2013 World Champion, Missy Franklin, and the 2012 Olympic Champion, Allison Schmitt. Behind them, the other medal contenders were Australia, China, Italy, and Sweden. Such was the strength of the American team that Franklin would not even make their final squad, as Ledecky and Schmitt were joined by Leah Smith and Maya DiRado. But it would not end up being that easy for the USA, as they would never lead until Ledecky’s anchor.

In the final, Sarah Sjoström swam the opening leg and outtouched Schmitt by 1/100th of a second to put Sweden in the lead on the opening leg. Emma McKeon’s second leg of 1:54.64 gave Australia the lead as she touched 0.31 seconds ahead of Leah Smith, and Sweden dropped all the way back to sixth. Bronte Barratt then outswam DiRado to increase the Australian lead as the anchor leg started, where it was Tamsin Cook against Ledecky, who started with an 0.89 second deficit. She made that up quickly and stormed ahead to what looked like an easy gold medal, although it had not been, winning by almost two seconds over Cook. Canada had been in a battle with China since the second leg, but anchor swimmer Penny Oleksiak brought them home for the bronze medal.

Pos	Competitors	NOC	R1	Final
1	United States	USA	7:47.77 (1 h2)	7:43.03 (1)	Gold
	Allison Schmitt • Katie Ledecky • Missy Franklin • Leah Smith • Maya DiRado • Melanie Margalis • Cierra Runge
2	Australia	AUS	7:49.24 (1 h1)	7:44.87 (2)	Silver
	Bronte Barratt • Jessica Ashwood • Emma McKeon • Leah Neale • Tamsin Cook
3	Canada	CAN	7:51.99 (3 h1)	7:45.39 (3)	Bronze
	Brittany MacLean • Katerine Savard • Emily Overholt • Kennedy Goss • Penny Oleksiak • Taylor Ruck
4	People's Republic of China	CHN	7:49.58 (2 h2)	7:47.96 (4)
	Wang Shijia • Shen Duo • Dong Jie • Ai Yanhan • Zhang Yuhan
5	Sweden	SWE	7:53.43 (5 h1)	7:50.26 (5)
	Michelle Coleman • Ida Marko-Varga • Sarah Sjöström • Louise Hansson
6	Hungary	HUN	7:51.17 (3 h2)	7:51.03 (6)
	Zsu Jakabos • Katinka Hosszú • Evelyn Verrasztó • Boglárka Kapás • Ajna Késely
7	Russian Federation	RUS	7:50.52 (2 h1)	7:53.26 (7)
	Veronika Popova • Viktoriya Andreyeva • Arina Opyonysheva • Darya Mullakayeva • Darya Ustinova
8	Japan	JPN	7:52.50 (4 h1)	7:56.76 (8)
	Chihiro Igarashi • Sachi Mochida • Tomomi Aoki • Rikako Ikee
9	Great Britain	GBR	7:54.17 (4 h2)	–
	Siobhan-Marie O'Connor • Georgia Coates • Hannah Miley • Camilla Hattersley
10	France	FRA	7:55.55 (5 h2)	–
	Coralie Balmy • Cloé Hache • Charlotte Bonnet • Margaux Fabre
11	Brazil	BRA	7:55.68 (6 h2)	–
	Manuella Lyrio • Jessica Bruin • Gabi Roncatto • Larissa Oliveira
12	Germany	GER	7:56.74 (7 h2)	–
	Annika Bruhn • Leonie Kullmann • Paulina Schmiedel • Sarah Köhler
13	Italy	ITA	7:57.74 (6 h1)	–
	Alice Mizzau • Martina De Memme • Chiara Masini Luccetti • Federica Pellegrini
14	Netherlands	NED	7:58.74 (7 h1)	–
	Marrit Steenbergen • Esmee Vermeulen • Andrea Kneppers • Robin Neumann
15	Slovenia	SLO	8:02.22 (8 h1)	–
	Janja Šegel • Anja Klinar • Tjaša Pintar • Tjaša Oder
16	Spain	ESP	8:03.74 (8 h2)	–
	Melani Costa • Patricia Castro • Fátima Gallardo • África Zamorano

Round One

Date	10 August 2016 — 14:31
Format	Fastest eight teams advanced to final

Pos	Lane	Team	NOC	Time
1	–	United States	USA	7:47.77	Q
2	–	Australia	AUS	7:49.24	Q
3	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	7:49.58	Q
4	–	Russian Federation	RUS	7:50.52	Q
5	–	Hungary	HUN	7:51.17	Q
6	–	Canada	CAN	7:51.99	Q
7	–	Japan	JPN	7:52.50	Q
8	–	Sweden	SWE	7:53.43	Q
9	–	Great Britain	GBR	7:54.17
10	–	France	FRA	7:55.55
11	–	Brazil	BRA	7:55.68
12	–	Germany	GER	7:56.74
13	–	Italy	ITA	7:57.74
14	–	Netherlands	NED	7:58.74
15	–	Slovenia	SLO	8:02.22
16	–	Spain	ESP	8:03.74

Heat #1

Time	14:31

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 metre Time	100 m Time	150 m Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	Australia	AUS	7:49.24	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Leah Neale		–	0.71	27.56	57.37	1:27.11	1:57.06 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Bronte Barratt		–	0.46	27.74	57.43	1:27.30	1:56.85 (2)	3:53.91 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Tamsin Cook		–	0.30	27.43	57.29	1:27.46	1:57.35 (1)	5:51.26 (1)
Anchor	–	Jessica Ashwood		–	0.28	27.32	57.12	1:27.89	1:57.98 (4)	– (–)
2	–	Russian Federation	RUS	7:50.52	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Viktoriya Andreyeva		–	0.78	27.33	57.10	1:27.27	1:57.82 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Arina Opyonysheva		–	0.29	27.32	57.22	1:27.50	1:57.67 (4)	3:55.49 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Darya Mullakayeva		–	0.19	27.12	56.79	1:26.75	1:57.85 (3)	5:53.34 (3)
Anchor	–	Veronika Popova-Andrusenko		–	0.31	27.08	56.87	1:27.14	1:57.18 (3)	– (–)
3	–	Canada	CAN	7:51.99	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Katerine Savard		–	0.65	27.72	57.28	1:27.56	1:57.96 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Taylor Ruck		–	0.18	26.39	55.80	1:26.01	1:56.25 (1)	3:54.21 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Emily Overholt		–	0.39	27.61	57.43	1:28.01	1:58.29 (4)	5:52.50 (4)
Anchor	–	Kennedy Goss		–	0.18	28.25	58.19	1:29.23	1:59.49 (6)	– (–)
4	–	Japan	JPN	7:52.50	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Chihiro Igarashi		–	0.65	27.44	57.12	1:27.45	1:57.18 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Rikako Ikee		–	0.36	26.98	56.33	1:27.10	1:57.71 (5)	3:54.89 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Tomomi Aoki		–	0.03	26.82	56.10	1:26.50	1:57.39 (2)	5:52.28 (2)
Anchor	–	Sachi Mochida		–	0.30	27.82	58.08	1:29.31	2:00.22 (7)	– (–)
5	–	Sweden	SWE	7:53.43	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Louise Hansson		–	0.74	27.94	57.64	1:28.76	2:00.07 (7)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Michelle Coleman		–	0.29	26.73	56.26	1:26.78	1:56.93 (3)	3:57.00 (3)
3rd Leg	–	Ida Mattsson-Marko-Varga		–	0.38	27.29	57.26	1:28.12	1:59.27 (6)	5:56.27 (6)
Anchor	–	Sarah Sjöström		–	0.25	27.14	57.05	1:27.02	1:57.16 (2)	– (–)
6	–	Italy	ITA	7:57.74	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Alice Mizzau		–	0.74	28.10	57.89	1:28.52	1:59.74 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Martina De Memme		–	0.26	28.17	58.43	1:29.24	2:00.54 (7)	4:00.28 (7)
3rd Leg	–	Chiara Masini Luccetti		–	0.08	27.69	58.04	1:29.33	2:00.98 (8)	6:01.26 (8)
Anchor	–	Federica Pellegrini		–	0.23	26.75	56.59	1:26.83	1:56.48 (1)	– (–)
7	–	Netherlands	NED	7:58.74	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Marrit Steenbergen		–	0.86	27.58	58.00	1:28.86	2:00.80 (8)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Esmee Vermeulen		–	0.20	27.00	56.93	1:27.52	1:59.07 (6)	3:59.87 (6)
3rd Leg	–	Andrea Kneppers		–	0.30	27.56	58.01	1:28.67	1:59.86 (7)	5:59.73 (7)
Anchor	–	Robin Neumann		–	0.41	27.58	57.52	1:28.22	1:59.01 (5)	– (–)
8	–	Slovenia	SLO	8:02.22	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Janja Šegel		–	0.71	27.87	57.98	1:28.86	1:59.81 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Anja Klinar		–	0.29	28.96	59.47	1:30.46	2:00.74 (8)	4:00.55 (8)
3rd Leg	–	Tjaša Pintar		–	0.41	28.12	57.80	1:28.65	1:59.25 (5)	5:59.80 (5)
Anchor	–	Tjaša Oder		–	0.41	28.71	59.66	1:31.46	2:02.42 (8)	– (–)

Heat #2

Time	14:43

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 metre Time	100 m Time	150 m Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	United States	USA	7:47.77	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Allison Schmitt		–	0.77	27.34	55.86	1:25.49	1:55.95 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Missy Franklin		–	0.31	26.98	56.47	1:26.55	1:57.03 (2)	3:52.98 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Melanie Margalis		–	0.50	27.56	56.82	1:26.73	1:57.04 (1)	5:50.02 (1)
Anchor	–	Cierra Runge		–	0.43	27.28	56.95	1:27.62	1:57.75 (3)	– (–)
2	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	7:49.58	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Ai Yanhan		–	0.66	27.65	57.19	1:27.15	1:57.20 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Zhang Yuhan		–	0.14	26.70	56.36	1:26.71	1:56.38 (1)	3:53.58 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Dong Jie		–	0.29	26.59	55.98	1:26.24	1:57.45 (2)	5:51.03 (2)
Anchor	–	Wang Shijia		–	0.40	26.77	56.54	1:27.80	1:58.55 (6)	– (–)
3	–	Hungary	HUN	7:51.17	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Evelyn Verrasztó		–	0.80	27.93	57.83	1:28.57	1:58.81 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Ajna Késely		–	0.34	27.14	56.82	1:27.72	1:58.93 (4)	3:57.74 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Boglárka Kapás		–	0.25	27.75	57.32	1:27.61	1:57.77 (3)	5:55.51 (3)
Anchor	–	Katinka Hosszú		–	0.47	26.39	55.50	1:25.69	1:55.66 (1)	– (–)
4	–	Great Britain	GBR	7:54.17	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Siobhan-Marie O'Connor		–	0.80	27.56	57.07	1:26.90	1:57.47 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Georgia Coates		–	0.35	28.18	58.21	1:28.48	1:58.59 (3)	3:56.06 (3)
3rd Leg	–	Hannah Miley		–	0.33	27.93	58.14	1:28.40	1:58.66 (5)	5:54.72 (5)
Anchor	–	Camilla Hattersley		–	0.41	28.19	58.36	1:29.14	1:59.45 (7)	– (–)
5	–	France	FRA	7:55.55	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Coralie Balmy		–	0.72	27.71	57.51	1:27.45	1:57.38 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Cloé Hache		–	0.27	28.15	58.83	1:30.08	2:01.52 (8)	3:58.90 (8)
3rd Leg	–	Charlotte Bonnet		–	0.18	26.72	56.48	1:27.21	1:58.15 (4)	5:57.05 (4)
Anchor	–	Margaux Fabre		–	0.13	27.96	58.16	1:28.53	1:58.50 (5)	– (–)
6	–	Brazil	BRA	7:55.68	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Manuella Lyrio		–	0.74	27.87	57.64	1:28.05	1:58.39 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Jessica Bruin		–	0.32	27.32	57.41	1:28.19	1:59.05 (6)	3:57.44 (6)
3rd Leg	–	Gabi Roncatto		–	0.34	26.67	56.76	1:28.30	2:00.09 (7)	5:57.53 (7)
Anchor	–	Larissa Oliveira		–	0.13	27.23	56.93	1:27.69	1:58.15 (4)	– (–)
7	–	Germany	GER	7:56.74	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Annika Bruhn		–	0.76	27.90	58.22	1:28.48	1:59.28 (7)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Leonie Kullmann		–	0.29	27.75	57.96	1:28.44	1:59.04 (5)	3:58.32 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Paulina Schmiedel		–	0.39	28.02	59.02	1:30.42	2:01.24 (8)	5:59.56 (8)
Anchor	–	Sarah Köhler		–	0.24	27.02	57.25	1:27.32	1:57.18 (2)	– (–)
8	–	Spain	ESP	8:03.74	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Melani Costa		–	0.73	28.00	57.70	1:28.58	2:00.02 (8)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Patricia Castro		–	0.42	27.77	57.63	1:28.56	1:59.91 (7)	3:59.93 (7)
3rd Leg	–	Fátima Gallardo		–	0.44	27.15	57.33	1:28.42	2:00.02 (6)	5:59.95 (6)
Anchor	–	África Zamorano		–	0.31	28.79	1:00.02	1:32.12	2:03.79 (8)	– (–)

Final Round

Date	10 August 2016 — 23:55

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Reaction Time	50 metre Time	100 m Time	150 m Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	United States	USA	7:43.03	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Allison Schmitt		–	0.73	27.83	56.88	1:26.30	1:56.21 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Leah Smith		–	0.50	27.30	56.79	1:26.96	1:56.69 (3)	3:52.90 (3)
3rd Leg	–	Maya DiRado		–	0.20	27.22	56.66	1:26.46	1:56.39 (4)	5:49.29 (4)
Anchor	–	Katie Ledecky		–	0.42	26.55	55.08	1:24.56	1:53.74 (1)	– (–)
2	–	Australia	AUS	7:44.87	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Leah Neale		–	0.73	27.71	57.14	1:27.27	1:57.95 (7)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Emma McKeon		–	0.27	26.20	55.36	1:25.19	1:54.64 (1)	3:52.59 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Bronte Barratt		–	0.26	27.11	56.55	1:26.43	1:55.81 (2)	5:48.40 (2)
Anchor	–	Tamsin Cook		–	0.38	27.14	56.60	1:26.39	1:56.47 (4)	– (–)
3	–	Canada	CAN	7:45.39	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Katerine Savard		–	0.68	27.48	57.18	1:27.55	1:57.91 (6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Taylor Ruck		–	0.23	26.49	55.78	1:25.95	1:56.18 (2)	3:54.09 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Brittany MacLean		–	0.25	27.04	56.33	1:26.57	1:56.36 (3)	5:50.45 (3)
Anchor	–	Penny Oleksiak		–	0.15	26.01	54.95	1:25.02	1:54.94 (2)	– (–)
4	–	People's Republic of China	CHN	7:47.96	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Shen Duo		–	0.75	27.06	57.02	1:26.49	1:56.30 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Ai Yanhan		–	0.08	26.29	56.08	1:26.70	1:57.79 (4)	3:54.09 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Dong Jie		–	0.18	26.60	56.24	1:26.44	1:57.15 (5)	5:51.24 (5)
Anchor	–	Zhang Yuhan		–	0.23	26.73	56.33	1:26.73	1:56.72 (5)	– (–)
5	–	Sweden	SWE	7:50.26	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Michelle Coleman		–	0.71	27.04	56.29	1:26.22	1:56.20 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Ida Mattsson-Marko-Varga		–	0.34	27.21	57.45	1:28.36	1:59.46 (7)	3:55.66 (7)
3rd Leg	–	Sarah Sjöström		–	0.12	26.14	55.25	1:25.29	1:54.88 (1)	5:50.54 (1)
Anchor	–	Louise Hansson		–	0.38	27.00	56.60	1:27.94	1:59.72 (8)	– (–)
6	–	Hungary	HUN	7:51.03	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Zsu Jakabos		–	0.71	27.17	57.25	1:27.68	1:58.90 (8)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Ajna Késely		–	0.51	27.76	57.91	1:28.03	1:58.74 (6)	3:57.64 (6)
3rd Leg	–	Boglárka Kapás		–	0.30	27.64	57.22	1:27.17	1:57.65 (6)	5:55.29 (6)
Anchor	–	Katinka Hosszú		–	0.50	26.45	55.89	1:25.67	1:55.74 (3)	– (–)
7	–	Russian Federation	RUS	7:53.26	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Veronika Popova-Andrusenko		–	0.75	27.58	57.32	1:27.45	1:57.52 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Viktoriya Andreyeva		–	0.20	26.73	56.36	1:27.45	1:58.10 (5)	3:55.62 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Darya Ustinova		–	0.39	27.50	56.90	1:28.01	1:59.54 (8)	5:55.16 (8)
Anchor	–	Arina Opyonysheva		–	0.31	27.48	57.34	1:28.05	1:58.10 (6)	– (–)
8	–	Japan	JPN	7:56.76	–	–	–	–	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Chihiro Igarashi		–	0.66	27.25	57.31	1:27.77	1:57.85 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Sachi Mochida		–	0.36	27.80	58.61	1:30.20	2:02.00 (8)	3:59.85 (8)
3rd Leg	–	Tomomi Aoki		–	0.14	26.84	56.73	1:27.68	1:58.66 (7)	5:58.51 (7)
Anchor	–	Rikako Ikee		–	0.23	26.52	56.16	1:26.84	1:58.25 (7)	– (–)