| | Event type

4 × 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Women

Date	4 – 6 December 1956
Status	Olympic
Location	Olympic Park Swimming and Diving Stadium, Melbourne, Victoria
Participants	45 from 10 countries

Having smashed the world record twice in the previous eight weeks, and with all three individual medallists included in their quartet, it seemed implausible that any team other than the home nation of Australia would win the women’s relay in Melbourne.

Individual 100 m gold medallist Dawn Fraser faltered at the start when she mistakenly thought a false start had been called but recovered and gave the Aussies a healthy lead on leg one before newly crowned Olympic butterfly champion Shelley Mann dragged the USA back into the fray. The race was effectively decided only on the final leg when 400 m champion Lorraine Crapp sprinted away into the distance. Despite the incident at the start Australia still beat the world record yet again. The time for the second place Americans was also under the old world record.

Pos	Number	Competitors	NOC	R1	Final
1	–	Australia	AUS	4:25.0 (1 h2)	4:17.1 (1)	Gold
	2	Dawn Fraser		–	–
	3	Faith Leech		–	–
	34	Sandra Morgan		–	–
	–	Lorraine Crapp		–	–
	–	Margaret Gibson		–	–
	–	Elizabeth Fraser		–	–
	–	Alva Colquhoun DNS		–	–
	–	Jan Munro DNS		–	–
2	–	United States	USA	4:27.3 (2 h1)	4:19.2 (2)	Silver
	46	Sylvia Ruuska		–	–
	71	Shelley Mann		–	–
	33	Nancy Simons		–	–
	32	Joan Rosazza		–	–
	–	Betty Brey		–	–
	–	Kay Knapp		–	–
	47	Marley Shriver		–	–
3	–	South Africa	RSA	4:26.8 (1 h1)	4:25.7 (3)	Bronze
	26	Natalie Myburgh		–	–
	27	Susan Roberts		–	–
	70	Moira Abernethy		–	–
	25	Jeanette Myburgh		–	–
4	–	Unified Team of Germany	GER	4:27.5 (3 h1)	4:26.1 (4)
	38	Ingrid Künzel		–	–
	–	Hertha Haase		–	–
	11	Kati Jansen		–	–
	12	Birgit Klomp		–	–
	13	Christel Steffin DNS		–	–
5	–	Canada	CAN	4:29.3 (3 h2)	4:28.3 (5)
	51	Helen Stewart		–	–
	6	Gladys Priestley		–	–
	64	Sara Barber		–	–
	5	Virginia Grant		–	–
	35	Beth Whittall DNS		–	–
6	–	Sweden	SWE	4:30.1 (4 h2)	4:30.0 (6)
	–	Anita Hellström		–	–
	44	Birgitta Wängberg		–	–
	43	Karin Larsson		–	–
	30	Kate Jobson		–	–
	28	Anita Andersson DNS		–	–
7	–	Hungary	HUN	4:28.1 (2 h2)	4:31.1 (7)
	101	Mária Littomeritzky		–	–
	95	Katalin Szőke		–	–
	99	Judit Temes		–	–
	94	Valéria Gyenge		–	–
	102	Éva Székely DNS		–	–
	96	Zsuzsa Ördög DNS		–	–
8	–	Great Britain	GBR	4:34.6 (4 h1)	4:35.8 (8)
	15	Frances Hogben		–	–
	79	Judith Grinham		–	–
	39	Margaret Girvan		–	–
	14	Fearne Ewart		–	–
	78	Margaret Edwards DNS		–	–
9	–	Japan	JPN	4:35.8 (5 h2)	–
	17	Hitomi Jinno		–	–
	–	Eiko Wada		–	–
	18	Yoshiko Sato		–	–
	40	Yukiko Otaka		–	–
	–	Setsuko Shimada DNS		–	–
10	–	France	FRA	4:36.6 (5 h1)	–
	10	Odile Vouaux		–	–
	36	Viviane Gouverneur		–	–
	9	Ginette Jany-Sendral		–	–
	–	Héda Frost		–	–
	37	Colette Thomas DNS		–	–

Round One

Date	4 December 1956 — 14:55
Format	Fastest eight advanced to the final.

Pos	Lane	Team	NOC	Time
1	–	Australia	AUS	4:25.0	Q
2	–	South Africa	RSA	4:26.8	Q
3	–	United States	USA	4:27.3	Q
4	–	Unified Team of Germany	GER	4:27.5	Q
5	–	Hungary	HUN	4:28.1	Q
6	–	Canada	CAN	4:29.3	Q
7	–	Sweden	SWE	4:30.1	Q
8	–	Great Britain	GBR	4:34.6	Q
9	–	Japan	JPN	4:35.8		1
10	–	France	FRA	4:36.6

Heat #1

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	South Africa	RSA	4:26.8	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Jeanette Myburgh		–	1:07.3 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Susan Roberts		–	1:06.5 (3)	2:13.8 (3)
3rd Leg	–	Moira Abernethy		–	1:08.2 (=2)	3:22.0 (3)
Anchor	–	Natalie Myburgh		–	1:04.8 (1)	– (–)
2	–	United States	USA	4:27.3	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Betty Brey		–	1:07.9 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Nancy Simons		–	1:05.5 (=1)	2:13.4 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Kay Knapp		–	1:08.2 (=2)	3:21.6 (2)
Anchor	–	Marley Shriver		–	1:05.7 (2)	– (–)
3	–	Unified Team of Germany	GER	4:27.5	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Ingrid Künzel		–	1:07.6 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Hertha Haase		–	1:05.5 (=1)	2:13.1 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Kati Jansen		–	1:07.0 (1)	3:20.1 (1)
Anchor	–	Birgit Klomp		–	1:07.4 (=4)	– (–)
4	–	Great Britain	GBR	4:34.6	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Frances Hogben		–	1:08.3 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Margaret Girvan		–	1:08.6 (4)	2:16.9 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Fearne Ewart		–	1:09.3 (4)	3:26.2 (4)
Anchor	–	Judith Grinham		–	1:07.4 (=4)	– (–)
5	–	France	FRA	4:36.6	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Odile Vouaux		–	1:08.4 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Viviane Gouverneur		–	1:10.4 (5)	2:18.8 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Ginette Jany-Sendral		–	1:10.6 (5)	3:29.4 (5)
Anchor	–	Héda Frost		–	1:07.2 (3)	– (–)

Heat #2

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	Australia	AUS	4:25.0	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Margaret Gibson		–	1:06.4 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Sandra Morgan		–	1:05.4 (1)	2:11.8 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Elizabeth Fraser		–	1:07.3 (2)	3:19.1 (1)
Anchor	–	Faith Leech		–	1:05.9 (1)	– (–)
2	–	Hungary	HUN	4:28.1	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Judit Temes		–	1:07.1 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Mária Littomeritzky		–	1:07.1 (2)	2:14.2 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Katalin Szőke		–	1:07.0 (1)	3:21.2 (2)
Anchor	–	Valéria Gyenge		–	1:06.9 (4)	– (–)
3	–	Canada	CAN	4:29.3	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Virginia Grant		–	1:06.7 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Gladys Priestley		–	1:07.7 (=3)	2:14.4 (3)
3rd Leg	–	Sara Barber		–	1:08.1 (4)	3:22.5 (3)
Anchor	–	Helen Stewart		–	1:06.8 (3)	– (–)
4	–	Sweden	SWE	4:30.1	– (–)	– (–)	Q
Lead-off	–	Anita Hellström		–	1:08.3 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Birgitta Wängberg		–	1:07.7 (=3)	2:16.0 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Karin Larsson		–	1:07.4 (3)	3:23.4 (4)
Anchor	–	Kate Jobson		–	1:06.7 (2)	– (–)
5	–	Japan	JPN	4:35.8	– (–)	– (–)		2
Lead-off	–	Hitomi Jinno		–	1:07.8 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Eiko Wada		–	1:08.1 (5)	2:15.9 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Yoshiko Sato		–	1:08.8 (5)	3:24.7 (5)
Anchor	–	Yukiko Otaka		–	1:11.3 (5)	– (–)

Final Round

Date	6 December 1956 — 20:20

Pos	Lane	Competitors	NOC	Time	Split	Exchange
1	–	Australia	AUS	4:17.1	– (–)	– (–)	WR
Lead-off	–	Dawn Fraser		–	1:04.0 (1)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Faith Leech		–	1:05.3 (=2)	2:09.3 (1)
3rd Leg	–	Sandra Morgan		–	1:04.7 (2)	3:14.0 (1)
Anchor	–	Lorraine Crapp		–	1:03.1 (1)	– (–)
2	–	United States	USA	4:19.2	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Sylvia Ruuska		–	1:06.3 (2)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Shelley Mann		–	1:03.9 (1)	2:10.2 (2)
3rd Leg	–	Nancy Simons		–	1:04.6 (1)	3:14.8 (2)
Anchor	–	Joan Rosazza		–	1:04.4 (2)	– (–)
3	–	South Africa	RSA	4:25.7	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Natalie Myburgh		–	1:07.7 (5)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Susan Roberts		–	1:05.3 (=2)	2:13.0 (3)
3rd Leg	–	Moira Abernethy		–	1:08.0 (7)	3:21.0 (4)
Anchor	–	Jeanette Myburgh		–	1:04.7 (3)	– (–)
4	–	Unified Team of Germany	GER	4:26.1	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Ingrid Künzel		–	1:06.6 (3)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Hertha Haase		–	1:06.7 (=4)	2:13.3 (4)
3rd Leg	–	Kati Jansen		–	1:05.7 (3)	3:19.0 (3)
Anchor	–	Birgit Klomp		–	1:07.1 (6)	– (–)
5	–	Canada	CAN	4:28.3	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Helen Stewart		–	1:07.1 (4)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Gladys Priestley		–	1:07.1 (6)	2:14.2 (5)
3rd Leg	–	Sara Barber		–	1:07.5 (6)	3:21.7 (5)
Anchor	–	Virginia Grant		–	1:06.6 (5)	– (–)
6	–	Sweden	SWE	4:30.0	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Anita Hellström		–	1:08.8 (=6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Birgitta Wängberg		–	1:07.7 (7)	2:16.5 (6)
3rd Leg	–	Karin Larsson		–	1:07.4 (5)	3:23.9 (7)
Anchor	–	Kate Jobson		–	1:06.1 (4)	– (–)
7	–	Hungary	HUN	4:31.1	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Mária Littomeritzky		–	1:09.9 (8)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Katalin Szőke		–	1:06.7 (=4)	2:16.6 (7)
3rd Leg	–	Judit Temes		–	1:06.7 (4)	3:23.3 (6)
Anchor	–	Valéria Gyenge		–	1:07.8 (7)	– (–)
8	–	Great Britain	GBR	4:35.8	– (–)	– (–)
Lead-off	–	Frances Hogben		–	1:08.8 (=6)	– (–)
2nd Leg	–	Judith Grinham		–	1:09.0 (8)	2:17.8 (8)
3rd Leg	–	Margaret Girvan		–	1:09.4 (8)	3:27.2 (8)
Anchor	–	Fearne Ewart		–	1:08.6 (8)	– (–)