Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay
| Women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad | |||||||
| Venue | Olympic Aquatic Centre | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dates | August 18, 2004 (heats & final) | ||||||
| Competitors | 74 from 16 nations | ||||||
| Winning time | 7:53.42 WR | ||||||
| Medalists | |||||||
| |||||||
| Swimming events at the 2004 Summer Olympics  | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freestyle | ||||
| 50 m | men | women | ||
| 100 m | men | women | ||
| 200 m | men | women | ||
| 400 m | men | women | ||
| 800 m | women | |||
| 1500 m | men | |||
| Backstroke | ||||
| 100 m | men | women | ||
| 200 m | men | women | ||
| Breaststroke | ||||
| 100 m | men | women | ||
| 200 m | men | women | ||
| Butterfly | ||||
| 100 m | men | women | ||
| 200 m | men | women | ||
| Individual medley | ||||
| 200 m | men | women | ||
| 400 m | men | women | ||
| Freestyle relay | ||||
| 4×100 m | men | women | ||
| 4×200 m | men | women | ||
| Medley relay | ||||
| 4×100 m | men | women | ||
The women's 4×200 metre freestyle relay took place on 18 August at the Olympic Aquatic Centre of the Athens Olympic Sports Complex in Athens, Greece.[1]
The U.S. women's swimming team (Natalie Coughlin, Carly Piper, Dana Vollmer, and Kaitlin Sandeno) broke the oldest world record in the book, when they clocked at 7:53.42, slashing 2.05 seconds off the old, drug-tainted mark set by the East Germans exactly 17 years ago. Leading off the race, Coughlin swam a fastest split and a personal best of 1:57.74, which became quicker than a gold-medal performance of 1:58.03 set by Romania's Camelia Potec in the individual 200 m freestyle.[2][3][4]
With Team USA taking its third straight title since the event's Olympic debut in 1996, China made a surprise packet with a silver medal, in an Asian record of 7:55.97.[5] Meanwhile, the unified Germans held off the Aussies for the bronze in 7:57.35, 45-hundredths of a second under an old Olympic record set by Team USA in 2000. Despite missing the podium by 0.05 of a second, the Australians broke their national record of 7:57.40 to settle only for fourth place.[2]
Records
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record |  East Germany (GDR)Manuela Stellmach (2:00.23) Astrid Strauss (1:58.90) Anke Möhring (1:58.73) Heike Friedrich (1:57.61) | 7:55.47 | Strasbourg, France | 18 August 1987 |
| Olympic record |  United States (USA)Samantha Arsenault (1:59.92) Diana Munz (1:59.19) Lindsay Benko (1:59.34) Jenny Thompson (1:59.35) | 7:57.80 | Sydney, Australia | 20 September 2000 |
The following new world and Olympic records were set during this competition.
| Date | Event | Name | Nationality | Time | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 18 | Final | Natalie Coughlin (1:57.74) Carly Piper (1:59.39) Dana Vollmer (1:58.12) Kaitlin Sandeno (1:58.17) | United States | 7:53.42 | WR |
Results
Heats
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Final
References
- ↑ "Swimming schedule". BBC Sport. 5 August 2004. Retrieved 17 June 2007.
- 1 2 Thomas, Stephen (18 August 2004). "US Women Break the Oldest World Record in the Book, the 800 Freestyle Relay". Swimming World Magazine. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
- ↑ Dodd, Mike (18 August 2004). "American women erase swimming's oldest world record". USA Today. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
- ↑ Fitzpatrick, Franz (19 August 2004). "German mark now worthless The U.S. women's 4×200 relay squad drowned an unpopular 1987 record". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
- ↑ "Chinese women win silver for freestyle relay gold". China Daily. 19 August 2004. Retrieved 10 May 2013.