The women's 4 × 200-metre freestyle relay event at the 2016 Summer Olympics took place on 10 August at the

Olympic Aquatics Stadium The Olympic Aquatics Stadium ( pt, Estádio Aquático Olímpico) was a temporary aquatics center in the Barra Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro. The venue hosted the swimming events, Synchronized swimming finals and water polo finals at the 2016 ...

Summary

The U.S. women's team overhauled the rest of the field on the home stretch to defend their Olympic title with the help of a sterling anchor leg from Katie Ledecky. Trading the lead with Sweden, China, and Australia through the first three legs of the race, Ledecky left the field behind with an anchor split of 1:53.74 to deliver the American foursome of Allison Schmitt (1:56.21), Leah Smith (1:56.69), and Maya DiRado (1:56.39) a gold medal in 7:43.03. As the Americans celebrated their victory, Ledecky also added the relay gold to her individual triumphs in both the 200 and 400 m freestyle earlier. Australia's

Leah Neale Leah Neale (born 1 August 1995) is an Australian competitive swimmer currently swimming for DC Trident at the International Swimming League. She competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics where she won a silver medal in the 4 × 200 metre freestyle ...

(1:57.95),

Emma McKeon Emma Jennifer McKeon, (born 24 May 1994) is an Australian competitive swimmer. She is a four-time world record holder, one current and three former, in the 4x100 metre freestyle relay. Her total career haul of 11 Olympic medals following the ...

(1:54.64), and Bronte Barratt (1:55.81) moved themselves to the front on the third leg. As the youngster

Tamsin Cook Tamsin Cook (born 25 December 1998) is an Australian swimmer and the former junior world champion in the 400-meter freestyle. After a neck injury in 2018 she retired from swimming, but returned in 2020 and qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympic ...

dove into the pool at the final exchange with a 1:56.47 split, she could not catch Ledecky near the wall to reproduce her nation's silver-medal feat from London 2012 in 7:44.87. Meanwhile, Canada's

Katerine Savard Katerine Savard (born May 26, 1993) is a Canadian competitive swimmer who specializes in women's butterfly events and freestyle relay. She holds several Canadian national records in the butterfly over the 50-, 100-, and 200-metre distances in b ...

(1:57.91),

Taylor Ruck Taylor Madison Ruck (born May 28, 2000) is a Canadian competitive swimmer. She won two Olympic bronze medals as part of Canada's women's 4×100 metre and 4×200 metre freestyle relay teams at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Ruck wo ...

(1:56.18),

Brittany MacLean Brittany MacLean (born March 3, 1994) is a Canadian retired competitive swimmer who has represented her country in the Summer Olympics and other international championships. She won a bronze medal in the women's 4 x 200 m freestyle relay at ...

(1:56.36), and

Penny Oleksiak Penelope Oleksiak (born June 13, 2000) is a Canadian competitive swimmer. Her country's most decorated Olympian, Oleksiak rose to fame during the 2016 Summer Olympics, where she became the first Canadian to win four medals in the same Summer G ...

(1:54.94) were unable to close the gap on the two leading teams at the anchor leg, leaving them with a bronze and a national record in 7:45.39. Seizing a brief lead early in the race, the Chinese combination of

Shen Duo Shen Duo (; born 9 June 1997) is a Chinese competitive swimmer who specializes in sprint freestyle events. Considered one of the most promising swimmers in the international scene, she currently holds three world junior records each in the 100 m ...

(1:56.30), Ai Yanhan (1:57.79), Dong Jie (1:57.15), and Zhang Yuhan (1:56.72) slipped out of medals to fourth in 7:47.96. Sweden's

Michelle Coleman Michelle Coleman (born 31 October 1993) is a Swedish competitive swimmer specialized in the sprint freestyle and backstroke events. She is the current Swedish national record holder in the 100 meter backstroke (short cou ...

(1:56.20),

Ida Marko-Varga Ida Marko-Varga (born ''Mattsson''; 10 March 1985) is a Swedish swimmer. She represents SK Triton. Career Marko-Varga was an early prospect, winning two individual freestyle titles at the 1998 Swedish Swimming Championships at the age of 13. T ...

(1:59.46),

Sarah Sjöström Sarah Fredrika Sjöström (; born 17 August 1993) is a Swedish competitive swimmer specialising in the sprint freestyle and butterfly events. She is the current world record holder in the 50 metre freestyle (long course), the 100 metre freestyle ...

(1:54.88), and

Louise Hansson Louise Maria Hansson (born 24 November 1996) is a Swedish competitive swimmer, a member of Helsingborgs SS. Career International Swimming League In spring 2020 Hansson signed for the Toronto Titans, the first Canadian based team in the ...

(1:59.72) finished the race with a fifth-place time in 7:50.26, while Hungary (7:51.03), anchored by three-time gold medalist

Katinka Hosszú Katinka Hosszú (; born 3 May 1989) is a Hungarian competitive swimmer specialized in individual medley events. She is a three-time Olympic champion and a nine-time long-course world champion. She is owner of a Budapest based swim school and swi ...

, Russia (7:53.26), and Japan (7:56.76) rounded out the championship field.

Records

Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.

Competition format

The competition consisted of two rounds: heats and a final. The relay teams with the best 8 times in the heats advanced to the final. Swim-offs were used as necessary to break ties for advancement to the next round.

Results

Heats

A total of sixteen countries qualified to participate. The best eight from two heats advanced to the final.

Final

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swimming at the 2016 Summer Olympics - Women's 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay Women's 4 x 200 metre freestyle relay Olympics 2016 in women's swimming Women's events at the 2016 Summer Olympics