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
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.