The women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay event at the 2008 Olympic Games took place on 13–14 August at the

Beijing National Aquatics Center The National Aquatics Centre (), and colloquially known as the Water Cube () and the Ice Cube (), is an aquatics center at the Olympic Green in Beijing, China. The facility was originally constructed to host the aquatics competitions at the 2 ...

in Beijing, China. For the first time since the event's inception in 1996, the Aussies smashed a new world record to overhaul the undefeated Americans for an Olympic title with a benefit of a sterling opening leg from Stephanie Rice. Starting the program's longest relay race with a remarkable Oceanian-record split of 1:56.60, Rice and her teammates Bronte Barratt (1:56.58), Kylie Palmer (1:55.22), and Linda Mackenzie (1:55.91) registered a gold-medal time of 7:44.31 to shave nearly six seconds off the previous world record set by their greatest rivals in 2007. China's

Pang Jiaying Pang Jiaying (; born January 6, 1985, in Shanghai) is a female Chinese freestyle swimmer who competed in the 2004 Summer Olympics, the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of ...

expanded her stretch over U.S. swimmer

Katie Hoff Kathryn Elise Hoff (born June 3, 1989) is a former American competitive swimmer, she is an Olympic medalist, and former world record-holder. Hoff was known for her success in the 200-meter and 400-meter individual medley. She represented the Un ...

with an anchor of 1:54.39 to deliver the foursome of Yang Yu (1:56.79), Zhu Qianwei (1:56.64), and Tan Miao (1:58.11) a superb Asian record time of 7:45.93, and a silver medal for the host nation. After a disappointing Olympic campaign, the U.S. team of Allison Schmitt (1:57.71),

Natalie Coughlin Natalie Anne Coughlin Hall (born August 23, 1982) is an American former competition swimmer and twelve-time Olympic medalist. While attending the University of California, Berkeley, she became the first woman ever to swim the 100-meter backstro ...

(1:57.19),

Caroline Burckle Caroline Stilwell Axel Burckle (born June 24, 1986) is an American former competition swimmer and Olympic bronze medalist. Early years Burckle was born in Louisville, Kentucky. She attended Sacred Heart Academy in Louisville, and graduated ...

(1:56.70), and Hoff (1:54.73) finally found the best form on the blazing anchor leg to end the race for the bronze in 7:46.33, finishing nearly four seconds under the old world record. Italy's Renata Spagnolo (1:58.31),

Alessia Filippi Alessia Filippi (born 23 June 1987 in Rome) is a retired Italian swimmer. Filippi won the gold medal in the 1500 m at the 2009 World Championships in Rome. Biography Filippi excels in backstroke and individual medley races, as well as in m ...

(1:56.68), Flavia Zoccari (1:59.80), and

Federica Pellegrini Federica Pellegrini (; born 5 August 1988) is an Italian retired swimmer. A native of Mirano, in the province of Venice, she holds the women's 200 meters freestyle world record (long course, 50 m), and won a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing ...

(1:54.97) missed out the podium by over three seconds with a fourth-place time and a European record of 7:49.76. Meanwhile, the French quartet of

Coralie Balmy Coralie Balmy (born 8 June 1987) is a French freestyle swimmer. Balmy was born in La Trinité, Martinique. She won her first senior title at the 2008 European Aquatics Championships in Eindhoven in the 4 × 200 m relay freestyle. At the same ...

(1:56.57), Ophélie-Cyrielle Étienne (1:57.95), Aurore Mongel (1:58.62), and Camille Muffat (1:57.52) occupied the fifth spot in 7:50.66. Earlier in the prelims, Muffat (1:57.32), Balmy (1:55.86),

Céline Couderc Céline Couderc (born 11 March 1983 in Avignon, Vaucluse) is a female freestyle swimmer from France, who twice competed for her native country at the Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also ...

(1:58.92), and Alena Popchanka (1:58.27), previously competed for Belarus in three Games, established a new Olympic record of 7:50.37 to close the session with a final top seed. Hungary (7:55.53), Japan (7:57.56), and Sweden (7:59.83) rounded out the field. For the first time in Olympic history, all eight teams finished the race under eight minutes due to the presence of technology suits.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows. The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.

Results

Heats

Final

References

External links

Official Olympic Report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics - Women's 4 by 200 metre freestyle relay Women's freestyle relay 4 by 200 metre 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay 2008 in women's swimming Women's events at the 2008 Summer Olympics