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

2016 Summer Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

took place on 6 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 S ...

Summary

As expected, the Australian women's team solidified its triumph to set a new world record and defend the Olympic title in one of the program's freestyle relay races with the help of sterling final legs from sisters Bronte and

Cate Campbell Cate Natalie Campbell, (born 20 May 1992) is a Malawian-born Australian competitive swimmer, and a current multiple world record holder, who won two bronze medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics, a gold medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics, a gold a ...

. Trailing half of the race with a marginal lead from the Americans, Bronte booted the Australians to the front with a third-leg split of 52.15, before her sister Cate (51.97) put on a fastest finish at the anchor leg to deliver the foursome of

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 ...

(53.41) and

Brittany Elmslie Brittany Joyce Elmslie, (born 19 June 1994) is a former Australian competitive swimmer. She represented Australia at the 2012 and 2016 Summer Olympics in swimming, and won a gold medal in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay at both Games. Personal ...

(53.12) a gold-medal time in 3:30.65. Moreover, they managed to break their own world record, set at the

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two years earlier, by a third of a second (3:30.98). The U.S. team of

Simone Manuel ] Simone Ashley Manuel (born August 2, 1996) is an American professional Swimming (sport), swimmer specializing in freestyle events. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, she won two gold and two silver medals: gold in the 100-meter freestyle and the 4x10 ...

(53.36) and Abbey Weitzeil (52.56) handed

Dana Vollmer Dana Whitney Vollmer (born November 13, 1987) is a former American competition swimmer, five-time Olympic gold medalist, and former world record-holder. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, she won a gold medal as a member of the winning United States ...

the third-leg duties to maintain their lead, but Vollmer's split of 53.18 was just almost a second behind Bronte Campbell that pushed Australia to the front. As

Katie Ledecky Kathleen Genevieve Ledecky (born March 17, 1997) is an American competitive swimmer. She has won seven Olympics, Olympic gold medals and 19 world championship gold medals, the most in history for a female swimmer. Ledecky's six individual gold ...

dove into the pool at the final exchange with a split of 52.79, she could not catch Cate Campbell near the wall to leave the Americans with a silver medal in 3:31.89. Meanwhile, Sandrine Mainville (53.86), Chantal Van Landeghem (53.12),

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 ...

(53.19), 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 Gam ...

(52.72) ended Canada's 20-year medal drought for the female swimmers by taking home the bronze in 3:32.89. The Dutch quartet of

Marrit Steenbergen Marrit Steenbergen (born 11 January 2000) is a Dutch competitive swimmer. She won gold medals in the 100 m and 200 m freestyle events at the 2022 European Championships The 2022 European Championships were the second edition of the European Ch ...

(54.29),

Femke Heemskerk Frederike Johanna Maria "Femke" Heemskerk (; born 21 September 1987) is a former Dutch competitive swimmerInge Dekker Inge Dekker (born 18 August 1985) is a Dutch former competitive swimmer who specialised in butterfly and freestyle events. She won the bronze medal with the Dutch women's 4×100-metre freestyle relay team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, ...

(53.85), and three-time gold medalist

Ranomi Kromowidjojo Ranomi Kromowidjojo (; born 20 August 1990) is a retired Dutch swimmer of mixed Dutch- Javanese Surinamese origin who mainly specialises in sprint freestyle events. She is a triple Olympic champion, winning the gold medal in the 4 × 100 m free ...

(52.20) fell short of the medal podium with a fourth-place time in 3:33.81, while Sweden (3:35.90), Italy (3:36.78), France (3:37.45), and Japan (3:37.78) also vied for an Olympic medal. Earlier in the prelims, the Australian team of Elmslie (53.22), Campbell sisters Bronte (53.26) and Cate (51.80), and

Madison Wilson Madison Maree Wilson, (born 31 May 1994) is an Australian competitive swimmer who has participated in backstroke and freestyle events at the Olympic Games and the FINA world championships. Wilson has been a member of three world record Aust ...

(54.11) grabbed the top seed with a 3:32.39 to overturn their own existing Olympic record by 86-hundredths of a second. The medals were presented by John Dowling Coates, Australia Vice President of the IOC and

Dennis Miller Dennis Michael Miller (born November 3, 1953) is an American talk show host, political commentator, sports commentator, actor, and comedian. He was a cast member of '' Saturday Night Live'' from 1985 to 1991, and he subsequently hosted a str ...

, Vice President of

FINA FINA (french: Fédération internationale de natation, en, International Swimming Federation, link=yes) (to be renamed as World Aquatics by ) is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administer ...

Records

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

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 have 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 100 metre freestyle relay Women's 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

2016 in women's swimming Women's events at the 2016 Summer Olympics