The women's 4×100 metre freestyle relay event at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

took place on 16 September at the

Sydney International Aquatic Centre The Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre (SOPAC) , formerly Sydney International Aquatic Centre (SIAC), is a swimming pool, swimming venue located in the Sydney Olympic Park in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Built in 1994, the SOPAC was a majo ...

Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and List of cities in Oceania by population, Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metro ...

. The U.S. women's team dominated the race from the start to break the six-year-old world record and most importantly, to defend an Olympic title in the event. The foursome of

Amy Van Dyken Amy Deloris Van Dyken-Rouen (born February 15, 1973) is an American former competitive swimmer, Olympic champion, former world record-holder, and national radio sports talk show co-host. She won six Olympic gold medals in her career, four of wh ...

(55.08),

Dara Torres Dara Grace Torres (born April 15, 1967) is an American former competitive swimmer, who is a 12-time Olympic medalist and former world record-holder in three events. Torres is the first swimmer to represent the United States in five Olympic Gam ...

(53.51),

Courtney Shealy Courtney Amanda Shealy (born December 12, 1977), from Irmo, South Carolina, later known by her married name Courtney Hart, is an American former competition swimmer, Olympic gold medalist, and former world record-holder. Shealy swam the third l ...

(54.40), and

Jenny Thompson Jennifer Beth Thompson (born February 26, 1973) is an American former competition swimmer and anesthesiologist. She is one of the most decorated Olympians in history: twelve medals, including eight gold medals, in the 1992, 1996, 2000, and 200 ...

(53.62) put together a stellar time of 3:36.61 to capture the relay gold medal, shaving off China's 1994 world record by 1.3 seconds. As the Americans celebrated their triumph in the pool, Thompson picked up her eighth career medal to become the nation's most successful woman in Olympic history. She also tied with former East Germany's

Kristin Otto Kristin Otto (; born 7 February 1966) is a German Olympic swimming champion. She is most famous for being the first woman to win six gold medals at a single Olympic Games, doing so at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games.

for the most golds by a female, a total of six. The Netherlands nearly pulled a worst-to-first effort, building from an eighth-place turn by Manon van Rooijen (56.35), seventh by Wilma van Rijn (55.19), and sixth by

Thamar Henneken Thamar Nanette Henneken (born 2 August 1979 in Delft, South Holland) is a former freestyle swimmer from the Netherlands, who was a member of the Dutch Women's 4×100 m freestyle relay team that won the silver medal at the 2000 Summer Olympi ...

(54.88) until they delivered rising star

Inge de Bruijn Inge de Bruijn (; born 24 August 1973) is a Dutch former competitive swimmer. She is a four-time Olympic champion and a former world record-holder. Personal De Bruijn was born in Barendrecht, Netherlands. Inge is the sister of Olympic water ...

for the final exchange. Swimming the anchor leg, De Bruijn surged powerfully past the entire field with a fastest split of 53.41 to take home the silver for the Dutch in a European record of 3:39.83. Meanwhile, Sweden's

Louise Jöhncke Louise Jöhncke (born 31 July 1976) is a former freestyle swimmer from Sweden, who competed for her native country at two consequentive Summer Olympics, starting in 1996. Her biggest successes came on short course (25 m); she won the world title ...

(55.93),

Therese Alshammar Malin Therese Alshammar (born 26 August 1977) is a Swedish swimmer who has won three Olympic medals, 25 World Championship medals, and 43 European Championship medals. She is a specialist in short distances races in freestyle and butterfly. She ...

(53.78), Johanna Sjöberg (55.06), and

Anna-Karin Kammerling Anna-Karin Kammerling (born 19 October 1980) is a world-record breaking Swedish former swimmer, who was born in Malmö, Sweden. Kammerling has twice lowered the world record in the 50-meter butterfly event. In 2000, she was a member of the 4× ...

(55.58) came up with a spectacular swim to grab a bronze in 3:40.30, a national record, holding off a sprint battle from the fast-pacing German team of

Antje Buschschulte Antje Buschschulte (born 27 December 1978 in Berlin) is a former German swimmer. Her best disciplines were the short distance backstroke and freestyle races. Buschschulte swam for the sporting club SC Magdeburg. She participated in Olympic Games ...

(55.67),

Katrin Meissner Katrin Meissner (german: Katrin Meißner, born 17 January 1973) is a former freestyle swimmer from East Germany, who won three medals at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Specia ...

(54.92),

Franziska van Almsick Franziska van Almsick (; born 5 April 1978) is a German swimmer. She won her first Olympic medals in 1992 at the Barcelona Olympic Games aged 14. Her career began at the SC Dynamo Berlin. She has the distinction of having the most career Olym ...

(55.02), and

Sandra Völker Sandra Völker (born 1 April 1974) is a retired freestyle and backstroke swimmer from Germany, who won a total number of three (one silver, two bronze) medals at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States. There she made her second Olym ...

(54.70) by a hundredth of a second. Great Britain's

Karen Pickering Karen Denise Pickering, MBE (born 19 December 1971) is a former freestyle swimmer from Great Britain. Swimming career She made her international senior debut in 1986. She was first selected to represent her country at the European Junior Cham ...

(56.01),

Alison Sheppard Alison Sheppard, (born 5 November 1972) is a freestyle swimmer from Scotland. Swimming career She competed in five consecutive Summer Olympics for Great Britain, starting in 1988. She is a seven times winner of the British Championship i ...

(54.95),

Rosalind Brett Rosalind Jane Brett (born 12 March 1979) is an English former competition swimmer. Swimming career She represented Great Britain in the Olympics, FINA world championships and European championships, and England in the Commonwealth Games, winn ...

(54.92), and

Sue Rolph Susan Rolph (born 15 May 1978) is a female former freestyle and medley swimmer from Great Britain. Swimming career Rolph was one of the dominating forces in the 1990s of British women's swimming. Her Commonwealth Games medal haul consists of ...

(54.66) pulled off a fifth-place finish in 3:40.54.

Susie O'Neill Susan O'Neill, (born 2 August 1973) is an Australian former competitive swimmer from Brisbane, Queensland, nicknamed "Madame Butterfly". She achieved eight Olympic Games medals during her swimming career. Early life Susan (Susie) O'Neill was ...

recorded a split of 54.79 to produce a powerful lead on the first length by the delight of a home crowd, but the Aussies settled only for sixth place with a time of 3:40.91. Canada (3:42.92) and Italy (3:44.49) rounded out the championship finale.

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 2000 Summer Olympics - Women's 4 by 100 metre freestyle relay F 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay 2000 in women's swimming Women's events at the 2000 Summer Olympics