Women's 4 × 200 metre freestyle relay at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad | ||||||||||
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Venue | Olympic Aquatic Centre | |||||||||
Dates | August 18, 2004 (heats & final) | |||||||||
Competitors | 74 from 16 nations | |||||||||
Winning time | 7:53.42 WR | |||||||||
Medalists | ||||||||||
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Swimming at the 2004 Summer Olympics | ||
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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, 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]
Prior to this competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
World record | ![]() 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 | ![]() 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 |
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August 18 | Final | Natalie Coughlin (1:57.74) Carly Piper (1:59.39) Dana Vollmer (1:58.12) Kaitlin Sandeno (1:58.17) | ![]() | 7:53.42 | WR |
Jennifer Beth Thompson is an American former competition swimmer and anesthesiologist.
Lisbeth Constance Trickett, OAM is a retired Australian swimmer. She was a gold medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics, the 2008 Summer Olympics, and the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was the world record holder in the short-course (25m) 100-metre freestyle.
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Kaitlin Shea Sandeno is an American former competition swimmer who is an Olympic gold medalist, world champion and former world record-holder. Sandeno was a member of the American team that set a new world record in the 4×200-meter freestyle relay at the 2004 Summer Olympics. She is the current general manager of DC Trident which is a part of the International Swimming League.
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