4 x 100 metres Freestyle Relay, Women
| Date | 14 – 15 October 1964 |
|---|---|
| Status | Olympic |
| Location | Kokuritsu Yoyogi Kyogijo, Shibuya, Tokyo |
| Participants | 46 from 10 countries |
The only real decision for the US swim coaches was who they would select to lead the Americans to the gold medal in the final. The US qualified second in the heats, behind Australia, but that was with their junior varsity squad allowing the big guns to rest. In the final the race was over after one leg, as 100 fly gold medalist Sharon Stouder put the US into an insurmountable lead. She was followed by Donna de Varona, Pokey Watson, and Kathy Ellis, who swam anchor and finished in the time of 4:03.8 for a world record, bettering the time of 4:07.6 that had been set in September by another group of Americans. Australia finished second, anchored by Dawn Fraser, who had the fastest split of the race with 58.6, but they were too far behind for it to matter much. The Netherlands came on for the bronze medal, as anchor Erica Terpstra touched out the Hungarian finisher Csilla Madarász-Bajnogel-Dobai.
Round One (14 October 1964 — 13:35)
Fastest eight advanced to the final.
Heat One
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | 50 m | Time | Exchange (Pos) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | United States |  USA | 4:12.2 | |||||
| Jeanne Hallock | – | 1:02.8 | 1:02.8 (1) | ||||||
| Erika Bricker | – | 1:04.0 | 2:06.8 (1) | ||||||
| Lynne Allsup | – | 1:02.8 | 3:09.6 (1) | ||||||
| Patience Sherman | – | 1:02.6 | 4:12.2 (1) | ||||||
| 2 | 3 | Sweden |  SWE | 4:13.5 | |||||
| Ann-Charlotte Lilja | – | 1:04.1 | 1:04.1 (2) | ||||||
| Lotten Andersson | – | 1:04.4 | 2:08.5 (2) | ||||||
| Ulla Jäfvert | – | 1:03.5 | 3:12.0 (2) | ||||||
| Ann-Christine Hagberg | – | 1:01.5 | 4:13.5 (2) | ||||||
| 3 | 5 | Netherlands |  NED | 4:14.8 | |||||
| Pauline van der Wildt | – | 1:04.2 | 1:04.2 (3) | ||||||
| Toos Beumer | – | 1:04.2 | 2:08.4 (3) | ||||||
| Winnie van Weerdenburg | – | 1:04.3 | 3:12.7 (3) | ||||||
| Erica Terpstra | – | 1:02.1 | 4:14.8 (3) | ||||||
| 4 | 6 | Canada |  CAN | 4:14.9 | |||||
| Patty Thompson | – | 1:04.5 | 1:04.5 (4) | ||||||
| Mary Beth Stewart | – | 1:04.4 | 2:08.9 (4) | ||||||
| Louise Kennedy | – | 1:04.1 | 3:13.0 (4) | ||||||
| Marion Lay | – | 1:01.9 | 4:14.9 (4) | ||||||
| 5 | 4 | Japan |  JPN | 4:19.2 | |||||
| Ryoko Urakami | – | 1:05.5 | 1:05.5 (5) | ||||||
| Michiko Kihara | – | 1:03.7 | 2:09.2 (5) | ||||||
| Toyoko Kimura | – | 1:04.0 | 3:13.2 (5) | ||||||
| Miyoko Azuma | – | 1:06.0 | 4:19.2 (5) |
Heat Two
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | 50 m | Time | Exchange (Pos) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | Australia |  AUS | 4:11.8 | |||||
| Robyn Thorn | – | 1:03.7 | 1:03.7 (1) | ||||||
| Jan Murphy | – | 1:02.6 | 2:06.3 (1) | ||||||
| Jan Turner | – | 1:03.5 | 3:09.8 (1) | ||||||
| Lyn Bell | – | 1:02.0 | 4:11.8 (1) | ||||||
| 2 | 4 | Hungary |  HUN | 4:13.4 | |||||
| Judit Turóczy | – | 1:03.9 | 1:03.9 (2) | ||||||
| Mária Frank | – | 1:04.1 | 2:08.0 (2) | ||||||
| Éva Erdélyi | – | 1:03.4 | 3:11.4 (2) | ||||||
| Csilla Madarász-Dobay | – | 1:02.0 | 4:13.4 (2) | ||||||
| 3 | 6 | Unified Team of Germany |  GER | 4:14.9 | |||||
| Heidi Pechstein | – | 1:04.6 | 1:04.6 (3) | ||||||
| Traudi Beierlein | – | 1:03.9 | 2:08.5 (3) | ||||||
| Martina Grunert | – | 1:03.2 | 3:11.7 (3) | ||||||
| Rita Schumacher | – | 1:03.2 | 4:14.9 (3) | ||||||
| 4 | 5 | Italy |  ITA | 4:15.0 | |||||
| Paola Saini | – | 1:04.5 | 1:04.5 (4) | ||||||
| Maria Cristina Pacifici | – | 1:03.3 | 2:07.8 (4) | ||||||
| Mara Sacchi | – | 1:04.7 | 3:12.5 (4) | ||||||
| Daniela Beneck | – | 1:02.5 | 4:15.0 (4) | ||||||
| 5 | 3 | Great Britain |  GBR | 4:15.1 | |||||
| Sandra Keen | – | 1:03.8 | 1:03.8 (5) | ||||||
| Pauline Sillett | – | 1:04.2 | 2:08.0 (2) | ||||||
| Liz Long | – | 1:03.2 | 3:11.2 (5) | ||||||
| Diana Wilkinson | – | 1:03.9 | 4:15.1 (5) |
Final (15 October 1964 — 21:15)
| Pos | Lane | Swimmer | NOC | 50 m | Time | Exchange (Pos) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | United States | USA | 4:03.8 | |||||
| Sharon Stouder | – | 1:01.2 | 1:01.2 (1) | ||||||
| Donna de Varona | – | 1:00.9 | 2:02.1 (1) | ||||||
| Pokey Watson | – | 1:00.7 | 3:02.8 (1) | ||||||
| Kathy Ellis | – | 1:01.0 | 4:03.8 (1) | ||||||
| 2 | 4 | Australia | AUS | 4:06.9 | |||||
| Robyn Thorn | – | 1:03.8 | 1:03.8 (2) | ||||||
| Jan Murphy | – | 1:02.9 | 2:06.7 (2) | ||||||
| Lyn Bell | – | 1:01.6 | 3:08.3 (2) | ||||||
| Dawn Fraser | – | 58.6 | 4:06.9 (2) | ||||||
| 3 | 2 | Netherlands | NED | 4:12.0 | |||||
| Pauline van der Wildt | – | 1:04.6 | 1:04.6 (3) | ||||||
| Toos Beumer | – | 1:03.8 | 2:08.4 (3) | ||||||
| Winnie van Weerdenburg | – | 1:02.6 | 3:11.0 (3) | ||||||
| Erica Terpstra | – | 1:01.0 | 4:12.0 (3) | ||||||
| 4 | 3 | Hungary | HUN | 4:12.1 | |||||
| Judit Turóczy | – | 1:03.2 | 1:03.2 (4) | ||||||
| Éva Erdélyi | – | 1:04.2 | 2:07.4 (4) | ||||||
| Katalin Takács | – | 1:03.0 | 3:10.4 (4) | ||||||
| Csilla Madarász-Dobay | – | 1:01.7 | 4:12.1 (4) | ||||||
| 5 | 6 | Sweden | SWE | 4:14.0 | |||||
| Ann-Charlotte Lilja | – | 1:04.5 | 1:04.5 (5) | ||||||
| Lotten Andersson | – | 1:04.7 | 2:09.2 (5) | ||||||
| Ulla Jäfvert | – | 1:03.3 | 3:12.5 (5) | ||||||
| Ann-Christine Hagberg | – | 1:01.5 | 4:14.0 (5) | ||||||
| 6 | 7 | Unified Team of Germany | GER | 4:15.0 | |||||
| Martina Grunert | – | 1:03.5 | 1:03.5 (6) | ||||||
| Traudi Beierlein | – | 1:05.1 | 2:08.6 (6) | ||||||
| Rita Schumacher | – | 1:02.9 | 3:11.5 (6) | ||||||
| Heidi Pechstein | – | 1:03.5 | 4:15.0 (6) | ||||||
| 7 | 1 | Canada | CAN | 4:15.9 | |||||
| Mary Beth Stewart | – | 1:05.5 | 1:05.5 (7) | ||||||
| Patty Thompson | – | 1:04.3 | 2:09.8 (7) | ||||||
| Louise Kennedy | – | 1:03.6 | 3:13.4 (7) | ||||||
| Marion Lay | – | 1:02.5 | 4:15.9 (7) | ||||||
| 8 | 8 | Italy | ITA | 4:17.2 | |||||
| Paola Saini | – | 1:04.5 | 1:04.5 (5) | ||||||
| Maria Cristina Pacifici | – | 1:04.2 | 2:08.7 (8) | ||||||
| Mara Sacchi | – | 1:04.6 | 3:13.3 (8) | ||||||
| Daniela Beneck | – | 1:03.9 | 4:17.2 (8) |